Naturalist FAQ

Explore any overworld biome and you'll start running into Naturalist wildlife almost immediately — birds, insects, and small critters spawn in most biomes, while larger animals like bears, lions, and elephants stick to their native habitats. Craft a Capture Net early so you can relocate animals instead of killing them, and keep an eye out for Ant Hills and Snail Eggs while you explore.

Taming works per-species and usually involves offering that animal its favorite food repeatedly until it bonds with you — the same food it uses for breeding. Not every mob is tameable; many, like bears and big cats, are meant to be observed or avoided rather than kept as pets. Check the individual mob's page for its specific taming item.

Snakes are not a standard tameable pet in Naturalist — they're ambient wildlife you'll mostly encounter in warm biomes. If you want to keep one around, use a Capture Net to pick it up and place it in an enclosure rather than trying to tame it.

No — Black Bears and Brown Bears are hostile-when-provoked wildlife, not tameable pets. Your best options are avoiding them, using a Capture Net to relocate one, or building a fenced enclosure if you want them nearby.

Small critters like Rats and Hedgehogs are generally not tameable in the traditional sense — they're ambient mobs that wander and can be captured with a net. If you want one as a 'pet,' net it and release it inside a secure build.

Birds like Ducks breed when you feed two adults their preferred food, which is typically seeds. Once bred, they lay eggs that hatch into Ducklings — you can also pick up a Duckling with a Bucket of Duckling if you need to move it.

Right-click (or your use key) on a Naturalist mob with a Capture Net to scoop it up, then right-click again on the ground to release it. This is the intended way to move wildlife between biomes or into enclosures without harming them.

Antlers drop from Deer, Snail Shells drop from Snails, and other drops come from their respective mobs — usually when the animal is killed, though some may drop on shearing or naturally. These materials feed into crafting recipes like Bear Plush and decorative items.

Shellstone is a building block set — full blocks, bricks, cut variants, slabs, stairs, and walls — for coastal or aquatic-themed builds. Froglass comes in Azure, Crimson, and Verdant colors plus matching panes, and works as a decorative translucent block.

Naturalist is a Java Edition mod, so it does not run on Bedrock or MCPE. Bedrock players looking for similar wildlife content would need a separate Bedrock addon, since the two versions use entirely different modding systems.