ARK: Survival Evolved - How To Hatch Eggs (2024)

In addition to taming wild creatures in Ark: Survival Evolved, you'll also be able to hatch new creatures from eggs. This can be a long process that requires a lot of care, but we are here to help you become an expert egg-hatcher.

To help you learn more about hatching eggs, we are going to go over everything you need to know about the process. In this guide, you will see the egg-hatching process described as incubation. First, let's look at how to get an egg, so you can begin the hatching process.

Updated October 23, 2023 by Jacqueline Zalace: In Ark: Survival Evolved, eggs can be quite valuable. Because of this, we've updated the formatting of this guide and added a bit more information on how to hatch eggs.

How To Get An Egg

There are two types of eggs that you can obtain; fertilized and unfertilized. You will only be able to hatch fertilized eggs from your own tamed creatures.

Obtaining Eggs From Tamed Creatures

To get a fertilized egg, you will need to breed two creatures. Breeding requires two creatures of the same species that are the opposite sex. The two creatures will need to be near each other, with Wandering and Mating enabled. There is a mating cooldown, so be sure that the creature in question hasn't mated recently.

Additionally, the creature cannot be following you, mounted, or have a full inventory. Lastly, spayed/neutered creatures cannot lay eggs.

Once all these conditions are met, your creatures will be able to mate. This will cause red hearts to appear above both creatures' heads and they will begin the process. Once the mating process is complete, the female will drop an egg that you can pick up.

Do All Tames Lay Eggs?

Before you attempt to get an egg, it's important to know where eggs come from. Not every creature will drop an egg; you can only get them from non-mammalian creatures.

Mammalian creatures include Bears and Wolves, Mammoths, and Otters to name a few. Basically, if it looks like a dinosaur, it can lay eggs. These mammalian creatures can still mate and have babies, but there is no egg that will need to be incubated.

Can Wild Creatures Lay Eggs?

Oftentimes, wild creatures will drop an egg on the ground, but these will not be fertilized. If you see a wild creature lay an egg, you will not be able to incubate it.

If you do see an unfertilized wild egg, don't ignore it! You can use this egg to make kibble, which is used to tame dinos.

How To Incubate And Hatch An Egg

To incubate an egg, you will need to keep it in an area with a steady temperature. Maintaining a steady temperature can be done in several ways, which you can take a look at below.

Campfires And Torches

This is a very simple way to maintain temperature, but it can also be quite difficult. A campfire gives off a fair amount of heat, however, there are external factors that can change the overall temperature. When you are dealing with high-maintenance eggs, we do not recommend using a campfire to incubate them.

Air Conditioners

An air conditioner can be used to decrease the temperature in the room for eggs that require lower temperatures to incubate.

An air conditioner will become available for 21 engram points once you become level 61. Additionally, you will need the following materials to craft this item.

• 80x Metal Ingot
• 15x Electronics
• 5x Polymer
• 15x Crystal

Egg Incubator

The egg incubator is available with the Genesis: Part 2 DLC. With an egg incubator, you can place up to ten eggs inside and choose your desired temperature. This will become available for 55 engram points once you become level 89. Below, you can check out the materials needed to craft the egg incubator.

• 500x Metal Ingot
• 350x Polymer
• 200x Crustal
• 100x Cementing Paste (or Achatina Paste)
• 250x Electronics

Egg Hatching Conditions

As mentioned above, the time and temperature at which you incubate an egg will vary. We are going to take a look at the egg of every non-mammalian species, the incubation time, and ideal temperatures. There are a lot of non-mammalian species, so to see more, you can expand the table below.

Tips For Hatching Eggs

Now that you know how to hatch eggs, let's look at some tips to help you.

Pay Close Attention To Temperature Ranges

As you can see, incubation temperatures can range from near-frozen to boiling. Additionally, many egg types have a very narrow temperature window that should be taken into consideration.

For example, a Yutryannus egg has a three-degree range for an acceptable incubation temperature. This means that using a campfire to incubate this egg may not be the best idea; if it becomes cold outside, the egg temperature could drop and the egg won't hatch.

Checking Current Temperature

You can check the current air temperature from your inventory, where your character stats are displayed. On the right-hand side of this panel, you will see the current temperature, displayed in either Celsius or Fahrenheit (the temperature measurement can be changed from the settings menu).

Temperature Variation On An Island

Temperature can change between regions of the map, but for the most part, a temperature will remain at an average for the region. For example, the south end of the base game island will generally be hotter than any other area. Keep this in mind if you choose to incubate your eggs outdoors.

Prioritize Air Conditioners

Overall, you should prioritize having either an incubator or air conditioner for eggs that require extreme and precise temperatures. If you don't have access to these items, you can create an enclosed area with torches to place the egg inside. This will only incubate eggs that require higher temperatures.

Next: Top Creatures To Tame First In Ark: Survival Evolved