Misc · 18 maps
After a successful mate, the Thorny Dragon lays a fertilized egg. Incubation temperature must stay between 22°C and 28°C - use Air Conditioners, Standing Torches, or Dimetrodons to maintain the range. At the correct temperature, the egg hatches in approximately 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Full maturation from baby to adult takes ~2 days (1x rate), progressing over a lengthy period. Hand-feeding is required until 10% maturation. After that, a Feeding Trough handles the rest.
Each baby inherits stats from both parents with a chance of mutation - +2 wild levels to a random stat plus a color change. Use the breeding calculator to plan food requirements, incubation timers, and maturation phases.
Raising a baby Thorny Dragon involves three maturation phases: Baby (0–10%) lasts ~292 min and requires constant hand-feeding. Juvenile (10–50%) spans ~19h - it can eat from a Trough now. Adolescent (50–100%) takes ~24h - continues eating from troughs, nearly fully grown.
Don't skip imprinting - each successful imprint boosts the Thorny Dragon's stats, and hitting 100% grants a 30% combat bonus when the imprinter rides it. Imprint requests include cuddling, walks, and specific kibble - check the wiki for which kibble to stockpile.
Incubation Time
2h 29m 59s
Elapsed Time
2h 26m 12s
Maturation Time Left
46h 17m 46s
Time to Juvenile
2h 26m 12s
Total Food Items
1381
items
Food to Adult
901
items
Food Per Hour
54
Food Capacity
150
items
Baby Hand Feed For
N/A
4.8% maturation
Cuddle Interval
0s
Imprint Per Cuddle
0%
Max Imprint
0.0%
The raising calculator above shows exactly how much food you need for each maturation phase of the Thorny Dragon. Expect ~292 minutes of active care during the Baby phase before it graduates to trough-feeding as a Juvenile.
The multiplier feature helps plan large-scale Thorny Dragon raises by totaling food across all babies. Different food types have different spoil timers - factor that into which food you stockpile.
Food per item
50
Stack size
40
Eats at 5%
44.86 food/min
Maturation
48h 43m 58s
| Phase | Duration | |
|---|---|---|
| 2h 26m 11s | 128 | |
| 19h 29m 35s | 774 | |
| 24h 21m 59s | 346 | |
| 46h 17m 46s | 1,248 |
Feeding Trough
2,400 items(60 slots)
Fits in one load
Tek Trough
4,000 items(100 slots)
Fits in one load
Maewing / Maeguana
300 slots
50% weight reduction on meat & berries
During the Baby phase (0-10%), you must hand-feed or use a Maewing to nurse. From Juvenile (10%+), dinos can eat from a Feeding Trough on their own. Use Preserving Salt in troughs to double spoil times.
The Thorny Dragon, a tamable, carnivore creature in ARK: Survival Ascended, is a notable presence across multiple maps. It falls within the Misc classification.
Stamina sits at 350 base, providing respectable staying power. With 100% base Melee Damage, the Thorny Dragon has solid damage output. Starting at 260 Health, it's not particularly tanky. It carries 300 base Weight - generous inventory space.
Taming the Thorny Dragon requires rendering it unconscious first - use Tranq Arrows, Darts, or Shocking Tranq Darts to apply torpor. Feed it Regular Kibble for the fastest tame and highest effectiveness bonus.
After taming, the Thorny Dragon earns its keep through resource gathering, making tedious farming runs much faster. It reproduces by laying eggs, which must be incubated between 22°C and 28°C. A wild Thorny Dragon is worth 6 base experience when killed. It can be cloned at a Cloning Chamber for 0.48 Element plus 0.01 Element per level.