One of the most asked questions related to ARK: Survival Evolved is the incubation process and how to hatch the eggs. This is a fun process and allows you to choose your favorite species to build a little family with.
Read on for how to hatch eggs in ARK.
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Breeding the animals
First of all, you’ll need to identify the species that you want to breed and find a female and male within that population. Some creatures don’t have a gender and, therefore, will be unbreedable. There are also other species that do have genders, but are sterile and unable to breed. You can check out this long list of unbreedable creatures in ARK. Don’t worry, though, there are still plenty of options for creatures to breed.
Once you’ve identified your female and male, place them next to each other and select ‘Enable Mating’ from the wheel menu. You must ensure that they are not following you, not encumbered, and remain close to one another, otherwise the breeding process will stop. The mating process is signified by a bunch of hearts on their status bar.
Once the mating process is completed, the female mammals will enter the gestation period, and all other female creatures will lay an egg, which leads us to the hatching process. You’ll also notice that the female creatures will have a display cool down period until they are next able to breed. For non-mammal creatures this will display immediately, while mammals will show the timer after the gestation period.
Hatching the eggs
Hatching an egg in ARK is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is visit a hatchery (see video at end for how to build a hatchery) and leave the egg there until it hatches. Leaving your egg in the hatchery means that you won’t have to worry about leaving your egg at the right temperature.
The hatchery is a well insulated building that maintains the same temperature at all times due to the AC units regulating the conditions inside. You’ll need to have about 15 to 20 refrigerators in your hatchery for normal use, along with a bunch of air conditioners (around 10 to 15, depending on the environment). You’ll also want a few feeding troughs and plenty of space in the hatchery for the younglings to roam around.
You can also use campfires to hatch your egg, drop the egg in a building and add campfires around it until the egg is no longer displaying the status ‘Too Cold!’. You can also place an egg next to some Dimetrodon, as they emit heat as they level up.
For most species, the incubation process will take no longer than 6 hours, but there are a few creatures with longer incubation periods. All you have to do now is sit and wait for the egg to hatch. Once the timer reaches zero, your egg will hatch and you’ll have a new life to take care of.
Can you hatch found eggs in ARK?
In short, no. Eggs that are found in the wild are not fertilized and can’t be incubated. A better use for these wild eggs is to use them as Kibble to tame creatures faster and allow for better stats. The different sizes of the eggs corresponds with the quality of the Kibble you can make.
Raising the young
Now you’ve got your baby, it’s time to care for it. The youngling will require special care and you’ll have to pay attention to its needs if you want it to survive. Keep food in their inventory as they will only consume from there.
After birth, your hatchling will need care every so often, which is indicated by the ‘Wants Care In’ marker in their status bar. The care they require will be randomized between cuddling, feeding, and walking, all of which are self explanatory and easy to do.
Tip: Keep a Daedon in close vicinity with your youngling and select ‘Enable Passive Healing’ from the wheel menu. This will ensure that your baby will survive its early days until it is able to get nourishment from the feeding trough and become a little more independent.
Get in Touch
What creatures have you been breeding in ARK: Survival Evolved? Did you find it easy to hatch an egg and bring up your baby dinos? Let us know in the comment section below!
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