Hytale animal taming
Many of the animals you meet in Orbis can be tamed — fed their favorite food once, after which they follow you, stop fleeing from players, and in several cases can be ridden, milked or sheared. This page covers the whole loop: how taming works, the food each animal wants, and what you can do with a tamed animal afterward.
How taming works
- Approach the animal empty-handed and interact with it (the interact key, F by default). A thought bubble appears above its head showing the food it wants.
- Get that food. Each animal type always wants the same food — the table below lists the confirmed ones.
- Give the food by interacting again with it selected. The animal becomes tamed on the spot.
Two details worth knowing before you start:
- Baby animals can be tamed too — the same loop works on the young variants of tamable species.
- Untamed animals flee when you get close. Approach slowly and don't swing a weapon at them; a tamed animal, by contrast, will not run away from players unless it is actually hit.
Every confirmed favorite food
| Animal | Favorite food | After taming |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | Carrot | Rideable mount |
| Cow | Cabbage | Milkable |
| Sheep | Cabbage | Shearable for wool |
| Chicken | Corn | Pen animal |
| Pig | Turnip | Pen animal |
| Mosshorn | Potato | Milkable |
| Bison | Cauliflower | Large pen animal |
| Boar | Pumpkin | Pen animal |
| Goat | Apple | Pen animal |
| Camel | Tomato | Rideable mount |
| Rabbit | Carrot | Pen animal |
Foxes are the newest addition — confirmed tameable in the Chapter 1 material, with unique behaviors: they stalk prey, sleep beside campfires, and play with their owners. The favorite-food entry for foxes is not confirmed yet; use the thought-bubble check in game.
The list grows with patches — new tamable species have been added since taming shipped, and the thought bubble always tells you the food even for animals not on this table. Cheese, notably, does not work on mice; not everything with a face is tamable.
Living with tamed animals
- Leading. Tamed animals follow the food item in your hand — hold a carrot and your horse walks after you. This is the practical way to move animals without infrastructure.
- Petting. Interact with an empty hand to pet a tamed animal. Several also play a small greeting animation when you come near.
- Feeding. Tamed animals can be fed from time to time — see the animal farming guide for the food economy around a pen.
- Riding. Horses and camels are rideable once tamed. Interact with the animal to mount it.
- Milking and shearing. Cows and mosshorns can be milked with a bucket; sheep can be sheared.
- Capture crates. Small mobs can be picked up in a capture crate and placed back down — useful for moving animals to a new base or building an enclosure. Larger tamed animals you lead on foot with food.
Taming vs. animal farming
Taming is the per-animal relationship: one food, one interaction, done. Farming is the systems around them — pens, breeding-worthy food supply, and production like milk and wool over time. If your goal is a working base with animals in it, read both pages: this one for the taming step, the farming guide for everything after.
What changed and when
Taming was not in the Early Access build at launch (January 2026) — horses, for example, could not be tamed at all in the first weeks. It shipped in a stable update during spring 2026 along with the sickle tool and climbing improvements, and the tamable roster has expanded since. The update tracker lists what each update added.
Related pages
- Animal farming guide — pens, feeding and production for a renewable food supply.
- Beginner guide — where animals fit in your first days.
- Update tracker — when taming shipped and what came after.