Find out everything you have to know about the Thorny Dragon in our ARK: Survival Evolved guide. But also how to catch it, tame it, feed it, and breed offspring too.
The Thorny Dragon joined ARK within the Scorched Earth DLC, which is why you can only find him on these Maps: Scorched Earth, Ragnarok, Extinction, Genesis Part: 1, Genesis Part: 2, Crystal Isles, lost Island, and Fjordur.
This is the Thorny Dragon in ARK: Survival Evolved
Appearance: The Thorny Dragon in ARK is just a bigger version of the Thorny Devil from Australia. Its body is covered with spikes and scales.
Wild: The Thorny Dragon is aggressive towards smaller creatures, which it attacks in its pack, which consists of a total of three specimens. Once you have attacked a Thorny Dragon, its companions will get angry and fight and follow you.
Domesticated: The Thorny Dragon’s saddle is similar to that of the Argentavis, that is a mobile workbench that additionally reduces the weight of certain resources:
- Thatch and Fiber weigh only 20 % of their original weight.
- Stone and Wood weigh only 50 % of their original weight.
In addition, the Thorny Dragon can fight in close combats with its bite attack, as well as in long-range combats with its spike attack, where it can shoot spikes.
How to tame the Thorny Dragon in ARK
How to hunt the Thorny Dragon: To tame it in peace, you should eliminate all wild creatures around it. This also includes his two companions unless you want to tame them. After that, you can lock him down with a chain bola or lure him into a bear trap, making it easier to shoot him unconscious with tranquilizer darts.
How to tame it: Once it is unconscious, put meat or kibble in its inventory and feed it to tame it. To keep the stun value high while taming, use Narcoberries or Narcotics.
How to craft the Thorny Dragon saddle
To craft the Thorny Dragon saddle, you must reach Level 40 and spend 18 engram points to unlock the recipe. For crafting, you will need the following resources:
- 270x Hide
- 150x Fiber
- 125x Wood
- 85x Clay
- 35x Metal Ingots
How to Feed Thorny Dragon in ARK
Once you have tamed your Thorny Dragon, it is important to know what it eats. Thorny Dragons are carnivores, which makes the choice of food more accessible.
- Regular-Kibble
- Ingredients: 1x Medium Egg, 1x Cooked Meat Jerky, 5x Fiber, 2x Longrass, 2x Savoroot, 1x Water
- Ingredients for Cooked Meat Jerky: 1x Cooked Meat, 1x Oil, 3x Sparkpowder
- Kibble (Camelsaurus-Egg):
- Ingredients: 1x Camelsaurus Egg, 50x Chitin, 1x Savoroot, 2x Mejoberry, 3x Fiber, 1x Water
- Raw Mutton:
- Received by gutting Ovis.
- Cooking turns it into the Cooked Lamb Chop
- Raw Prime Meat:
- Gained through gutting larger creatures
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Prime Meat
- Raw Prime Fish Meat:
- Obtained from Alpha Mosasaurus, Dunkleosteus, Electrophorus, Leedsichtys, Megalodon, and Sabertooth Salmon
- Cooking turns it into the Cooked Prime Fish Meat
- Raw Meat:
- Earned by gutting a creature
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Meat
- Raw Fish Meat:
- Received from gutting fish
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Fish Meat
Breeding the Thorny Dragon in ARK
This is how you prepare to breed: If you have a male and female specimen, at best you build a pen, that is large enough for both of them. Place both creatures in the pen and set them to roam via the command menu. Alternatively, you can also set them directly to “Pair”, but there has to be a player nearby. Otherwise, the pairing will stop due to the rendering.
The breeding interval for a Thorny Dragon is 18 to 48 hours.
How to Hatch Eggs: When you get a fertilized Thorny Dragon Egg from a successful mating, the hatching begins. For hatching, the ambient temperature of the egg should be between 22 °C and 28 °C and within the Egg-Incubator at 25 °C. According to standard settings, the little Thorny Dragon baby hatches after about 2.5 hours. After that, it needs about 5 hours of your attention, during which you must keep putting food in its inventory.
Once it gains juvenile status, it can feed from troughs on its own. The entire ripening time takes about 2 days and 1 hour.
Beginner tips on breeding in ARK can be found here:
Are you looking for more helpful guides on ARK: Survival Evolved? Then 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 seeing you!
