How to Tame Animals in Minecraft

Overview of Tameable Mobs

Minecraft features several mobs that can be tamed to follow you, fight alongside you, or serve as mounts. Each mob has a unique taming item and process. Once tamed, most animals will not despawn and will teleport to you when you move far enough away, though there are exceptions.

This guide covers wolves, cats, horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, parrots, foxes and allays. Each section includes the exact items needed and any quirks specific to that mob.

Wolves

Wolves are the classic Minecraft companion. They fight hostile mobs for you and can be a reliable bodyguard in the early game.

• Taming item: Bones (dropped by skeletons).
• Approach a wild wolf and right-click (or use) it with a bone. Each bone has a roughly 33% chance to tame the wolf.
• When tamed, the wolf gains a red collar and sits down. Right-click to toggle between sitting and following.
• Tamed wolves attack whatever you attack and whatever attacks you. They deal moderate damage and can overwhelm enemies in packs.
• Heal wolves with any meat (raw or cooked). Their tail angle indicates health, horizontal means full health, drooping means low.
• Breed tamed wolves with any meat item. Two wolves fed meat will produce a puppy that is already tamed to you.

Since the 1.20.5 wolf update, wolves spawn in variant appearances depending on the biome. All variants are tamed the same way with bones.

Cats

Cats scare away creepers and phantoms, making them surprisingly useful for base defense.

• Taming item: Raw cod or raw salmon.
• Stray cats spawn in villages. Approach one slowly, if you sprint or move too fast, the cat runs away.
• Stand still and hold a raw fish. The cat will slowly approach. When it is close, right-click with the fish. Multiple attempts may be needed.
• Tamed cats sit by default. Right-click to toggle following.
• Cats sitting on beds or chests will block you from using those blocks. Push them off or make them stand before opening containers.
• Breed tamed cats with raw fish. Kittens inherit the appearance of one parent randomly.

Black cats spawn exclusively in witch huts in swamp biomes. If you want one, search for a swamp hut.

Horses, Donkeys and Mules

Horses are the fastest overland mount. Donkeys are slower but can carry a chest. Mules are horse-donkey hybrids with chest capability and decent speed.

• Taming method: No items required. Right-click a horse with an empty hand to mount it. You will be bucked off repeatedly.
• Keep mounting the horse until heart particles appear. The number of attempts depends on the horse's hidden temper value. Feeding the horse sugar, wheat, apples, golden carrots or golden apples before mounting increases the temper and speeds up taming.
• Once tamed, you need a saddle to control the horse. Saddles cannot be crafted, find them in dungeon chests, village smiths, nether fortresses or from fishing.
• Horse armor (iron, gold, diamond) provides protection and is also found as loot. It cannot be crafted in Java Edition.
• Donkeys and mules are tamed the same way. After taming, right-click with a chest to attach storage (15 slots).
• Breed two tamed horses with golden carrots or golden apples. Breed a horse and donkey together to get a mule (mules cannot breed further).

Horse stats (speed, jump height, health) are randomized per horse. Breeding two fast horses increases the chance of a fast foal, but it is not guaranteed.

Parrots

Parrots sit on your shoulder and mimic nearby mob sounds, acting as an early warning system.

• Taming item: Seeds (wheat seeds, melon seeds, pumpkin seeds or beetroot seeds).
• Find parrots in jungle biomes. They are uncommon but spawn in groups.
• Right-click a parrot with seeds. Each seed has a 33% chance to tame.
• Walk through a tamed parrot to place it on your shoulder. It stays there until you jump or take damage.
• Do not feed parrots cookies. Cookies are toxic to parrots in Minecraft and will kill them instantly. This is based on real-world bird toxicity of chocolate.

Parrots cannot be bred. If you want multiple, tame them individually in the jungle.

Foxes

Foxes are not truly tamed but can be bred to produce kits that trust the player.

• Breeding item: Sweet berries or glow berries.
• Find foxes in taiga, snowy taiga or grove biomes. They spawn at night and sleep during the day.
• Feed two adult foxes sweet berries. The resulting baby fox trusts you and will not run away.
• Lead the baby away from its parents using a lead (crafted from string and slimeballs), or it will follow the adults instead of you.
• Trusted foxes attack mobs that hurt you and pick up items in their mouths.

Allays

Allays are not tamed traditionally but can be bound to you by giving them an item.

• How to obtain: Find allays in pillager outpost cages or woodland mansion cells. Break the cage to free them.
• Give an allay any item by right-clicking it with the item in hand. The allay will then search for dropped copies of that item within 32 blocks and bring them to you.
• Allays deliver items to the last note block they heard. Place and activate a note block near your storage and the allay will bring collected items there.
• Duplicate allays by giving one an amethyst shard while a jukebox plays a music disc nearby. The allay dances and produces a second allay.

Allays are extremely useful for sorting item drops and collecting farm output. They pair well with any farm that produces ground drops.

General Taming Tips

• Tamed animals can die. Keep wolves away from cacti and lava. Build safe pens at your base for animals you want to keep alive.
• Name tamed mobs with a name tag so they never despawn and you can identify them.
• Leads work on most tamed mobs and are useful for transporting animals over long distances.
• Sitting animals will not teleport to you. If you lose a pet, retrace your steps, it may be sitting where you left it.

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