ARK: Survival Evolved: Quetzal – How To Tame, Feed And Breed!

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The Quetzal is the largest flying creature in ARK: Survival Evolved. On his back, you can use the platform saddle to transport other creatures, turrets, huge amounts of supplies, or even people. It's like a flying fortress.

Find out everything you need to know about the largest pterodactyl in our Quetzal guide. But also how to catch him, tame him, feed him, and breed offspring too.

This is the Quetzal in ARK: Survival Evolved

Appearance: The Quetzal is the largest flying animal on the island. It has a long neck, a large beak, and a crest on its head. Its body resembles that of the much smaller Pteranodon.

Wild: Despite its gigantic appearance, the Quetzal is shy and will flee if you attack it. After an attack, the loner will fly away in a rapid sprint, almost as fast as the Pteranodon, and only then resume traveling at its normal flight speed. The Quetzal nests in the highest mountains, away from its enemies.

Domesticated: When tamed, the powerful pterosaur is mostly used to transport large amounts of supplies, creatures, and human cargo. You can also attach weapons such as cannons to his platform saddle (recipe below) and then use them to attack.

How to tame the Quetzal in ARK

How to hunt the Quetzal: By far the simplest and easiest way to tame a Quetzal is to follow it on a flying creature that you can use weapons on.

Suitable for this:

• Griffins
• Desmodus

Once you have tamed one of the creatures mentioned, fly after the Quetzal and shoot your tranquilizer darts at it until it falls unconscious.

Of course, you can also let a fellow player take you with a flying creature and shoot the Quetzal from there while you fly after it.

IMPORTANT:

• Be careful not to let the Quetzal faint over water, as it will drown in the water.
• Eliminate nearby enemy carnivores to prevent them from pouncing on the unconscious Quetzal.
• Protect him from other creatures with spikes on the ground while taming.

How to tame him: Once he's unconscious, put the kibble in his inventory and feed it to him. If the Quetzal threatens to wake up again in between, you can also feed it Narcoberries to increase the stun level again.

This is how you make the Quetzal saddles

To craft the Quetzal Saddle, you need to be level 76. You then spend 44 Engram Points to unlock the recipe. You now need the following resources to craft:

• 750x Hide
• 500x Fiber
• 100x Cement paste or Achatina paste
• 85x Silica Pearls

You also have the option of making a platform saddle for the Quetzal. For this, you need level 97 and 80 engram points, as well as the following resources:

• 620x Hide
• 400x Fiber
• 180x Metal Ingots
• 120x Cement paste or Achatina paste
• 220 Silica Pearls

How to Feed a Quetzal in ARK

Once you have tamed your Quetzal, it is important to know what it likes to eat. Quetzals are carnivores, which of course makes the choice of food more accessible.

• Exceptional Kibble:
  • Ingredients: 1x Extra Large Egg, 10x Mejoberry, 1x Rare Flower, 1x Focal Chili, 5x Fiber, 1x Water
  • Cooked Focal Chili: 9x Cooked Meat, 5x Citronal, 20x Armaberry, 20x Azulberry, 20x Tintoberry, 10x Mejoberry, 1x Water
• Kibble (T-Rex Egg)
  • Ingredients: 1x T-Rex Egg, 1x Prime Meat Jerky, 1x Longrass, 2x Mejoberries, 3x Fiber, 1x Water
  • Ingredients Prime Meat Jerky: 1x Cooked Meat, 1x Oil, 3x Sparkpowder
• Raw Mutton:
  • Received by gutting Ovis.
  • Cooking turns it into the Cooked Lamb Chop
• Raw Prime Meat:
  • Gained when 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

How to breed the Quetzal 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 Quetzal is 18 to 48 hours.

How to Hatch Eggs: If you have obtained a fertilized Quetzal Egg from a successful mating, hatching begins. For this, the ambient temperature of the egg should be between 5 °C and 6 °C. According to standard settings, the little quetzal baby hatches after about 17 hours. After that, it takes about 13.5 hours of your attention, during which you keep putting meat in its inventory.

Once it gains juvenile status, it can feed from troughs on its own. The entire ripening period lasts about 5 days and 12.5 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!

Every tip mentioned in this guide has been practically tested by our team to ensure you receive reliable and accurate information.