If you don’t want to do without a loyal companion in ARK: Survival Evolved, you should tame a Hyaenodon. This intelligent four-legged friend can be trained to be a hunting dog, which you can also use to hunt in packs.
Find out everything you need to know about the canine creature in our Hyaenodon guide. But also how to catch him, tame him, feed him, and breed offspring too.
This is the Hyaenodon in ARK: Survival Evolved
Appearance: The Hyaenodon looks like a mix between a hyena and a dog.
Wild: If you encounter a Hyaenodon that is alone, you have nothing to fear, as alone ones are shyer and will flee should you get too close. However, if you meet them in a pack, they react very aggressively and have a large radius of aggression. A pack of Hyaenodons consists of 3 – 6 animals that follow the pack alpha. However, they would only attack you if a fight is “worth it” for them or if they can really defeat you.
These intelligent hunters can judge whether a fight is worth the loot. They also have the benefit of being able to restore health and stamina by eating raw meat.
Domesticated: You cannot ride a tamed Hyaenodon due to its small stature. Nevertheless, you can train these clever pack animals, train them to be successful hunting dogs and then go hunting together with them as a pack. In their craftable meatpacks, they can store and preserve farmed meat.
How to tame the Hyaenodon in ARK
The Hyaenodon is passively tamed by petting. But in order to be able to pet him at all, it is advisable to grab him with a flying creature and throw him into a trap.
For the trap, you build 2×2 foundations, on the edge of which you place door frames and thus create a kind of space. You then place the trapdoors or the ceiling panels with the hatches on the door frame, which you then have to surround with walls – also on the inside; four small rooms should form. Finally, you build door frames again on the walls you just drew.
When you have finished building the trap, you take a flying creature that can carry the Hyaenodon and pick it up. After that, you fly with him over the trap, and you will kill him. Since the Hyaenodon is now aggressive and frightened, move away from the aggression radius for a brief moment to allow it to calm down.
When the Hyaenodon has calmed down, you approach it in the lower room, crouch down, and pet it. Stay with the Hyaenodon during the taming process and keep the stroking intervals to effectively tame it.
How to make the Hyaenodon Meatpack
To craft the Hyaenodon Meatpack you need to be level 19 and 14 Engram Points to unlock the recipe. You now need the following resources to craft:
- 290 leather
- 155 fibers
- 20 metal ingots
How to feed a Hyaenodon in ARK
Once you have tamed your hyaenodon, it is important to know what it likes to eat. The Hyaenodon is a carnivore, which of course makes the choice of food easier.
- Raw Mutton:
- you get when gutting Ovis
- by cooking it becomes the cooked lamb chop
- Raw Prime Meat:
- you gain when gutting larger creatures
- by cooking it becomes a grilled fillet
- Raw Prime Fish Meat:
- are obtained from Alpha Mosasaurus, Dunkleosteus, Electrophorus, Leedsichtys, Megalodon, and Sabertooth Salmon
- by cooking it becomes the cooked fish fillet
- Raw meat:
- you get when gutting a carnivore
- cooking it becomes grilled meat
- Raw fish:
- you get when gutting fish
- by boiling it becomes boiled fish
How to breed the Hyaenodon in ARK
This is how you prepare the breeding: If you have a male and female specimen, you build an enclosure that is large enough at best. Put both dinos in the pen and set them to “wander” via the command menu. Alternatively, you can also switch directly to “Pair”, but then there must always be a player nearby, otherwise the pairing will stop due to the rendering.
The breeding interval of a Hyaenodon is 18 to 48 hours.
After a successful mating, if you play on default settings, the female Hyaenodon will be pregnant for about 4 hours. After these 4 hours, you can welcome the little hyaenodon baby into the world. As a baby, it takes up another 4.5 hours of your attention, during which you have to keep putting food in its inventory. Pay attention to the embossing intervals every 8 hours to tickle the greatest potential out of the baby.
Once it gains juvenile status, it can feed on its own. The entire ripening time lasts about 1 day and 22.5 hours.
Beginner tips on breeding in ARK can be found here:
Looking for more helpful guides on ARK: Survival Evolved? Then take a look at our ARK guide overview, where you will find more of our dinosaur, crafting, resource, and technology guides. You can also chat with us and other players on our Discord server. We’re looking forward to see you!
