Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 1
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Update: The Festive update has made it possible to feed critters multiple times a day. We tried to find the limit, but we're not sure there is one — we managed to feed one critter more than ten times, so go wild!

Disney Dreamlight Valley's biomes are full of adorable, Disney-themed critters to befriend and tame. Some of them are trickier than others, though — and that's why we have this handy guide ready for you to help you figure out what it is these animals want.

How to feed and befriend critters - Types, Favourite Foods, and When & Where To Find Them

A ⭐ by something indicates that it is the Rare Critter for that type.

Gigantic thank you to Lady_Brittany_, whose guides on the times that critters appear are invaluable. Give her a follow!

Squirrels

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 9
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: The Plaza

What to feed them: Fruit

How to approach them: Go up to a squirrel and press A.

Their favourite food: Peanuts (raise Remy's friendship to level 4 and complete the Remy's Recipe Book quest to add it to his shop)

Colours:

  • Black — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Classic (light brown) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • Grey — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • Red — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • ⭐White — Sunday, 12am-6am

Rabbits

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 5
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Peaceful Meadow

What to feed them: Vegetables

How to approach them: Go up to one, and it will lead you on a chase. Go after it three times, and on the third time, it will let you approach it.

Their favourite food: Carrots (buy seeds from Goofy's Stall in Peaceful Meadow)

Colours:

  • White — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Classic (light brown) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • Brown — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • Black — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • ⭐Calico — Thursday, 8am-2pm

Sea Turtles

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 3
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Dazzle Beach

What to feed them: Seafood

How to approach them: When you go up to a turtle, it will hide in its shell. Wait for it to come out, then press A.

Their favourite food: Seaweed (fishing outside a fishing spot, anywhere)

Colours:

  • Purple — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Classic (green and brown) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • White — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Tuesday, Saturday
  • Brown — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • ⭐Black — Monday, 10am-4pm

Raccoons

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 4
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Forest of Valor

What to feed them: Berries

How to approach them: Walk slowly up to a raccoon and stop when the raccoon pricks up its ears, then wait for it to face you. When it is standing up on its legs and facing you, do not move. When it sits down, walk forwards until it stands up again. Repeat until you are close enough that the A action appears.

Their favourite food: Blueberries (harvest from Forest of Valor bushes)

Colours:

  • Black — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • Red — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • Classic (grey) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • White — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • ⭐Blue — Wednesday, 4pm-10am

Crocodiles

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 11
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Glade of Trust

What to feed them: Fish caught in the Glade of Trust

How to approach them: Walk slowly up to a crocodile and stop when it raises its head, then wait for it to face you. When it has its head raised and is facing you, do not move. When its head is lowered, walk forwards until it raises its head again. Repeat until you are close enough that the A action appears.

Their favourite food: Lobster (gold fishing spot, Glade of Trust)

Colours:

  • Golden — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Classic (green) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • Red-- Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • Blue — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • ⭐Pink — Saturday 6am-12pm
  • ⭐White — Sunday 6pm-12am

Sunbirds

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 6
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Sunlit Plateau

What to feed them: Flowers

How to approach them: Go up to a Sunbird and press A.

Their favourite food: Each bird has a different favourite food that matches their feather colours:

  • Red Sunbird - Red and blue flowers
  • Golden Sunbird - Orange and yellow flowers
  • Turquoise Sunbird - Pink, blue, and green flowers
  • Emerald Sunbird - Green and yellow flowers
  • Orchid Sunbird - Pink and purple flowers

Colours:

  • Emerald — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • Turquoise — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • Red — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • Golden — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • ⭐Orchid — Friday, 9am-3pm

Foxes

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 8
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Frosted Heights

What to feed them: Fish caught in Frosted Heights

How to approach them: Like rabbits, foxes want you to chase them. Repeat the chase three times, and on the third time, they will sit down and let you approach them.

Their favourite food: White Sturgeon (gold fishing spots, Frosted Heights)

Colours:

  • Black — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • White — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • Classic (orange) — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • Blue — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • ⭐Red — Saturday, 2am-8am

Ravens

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 12
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Where to find them: Forgotten Lands

What to feed them: 3-star, 4-star, 5-star meals

How to approach them: Ravens will fly around you in a circle until they're ready to let you approach them. Be patient; they'll stop flying when they want to be fed.

You can also whip out your camera and set up a selfie — they'll immediately stop circling to get in the photo. You don't need to actually take the selfie if you don't want to. Back out of the photo and you'll be able to approach.

Their favourite food: Five-star meals

Colours:

  • Red — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Monday, Wednesday, Friday
  • Blue — Sunday 12am-12pm, all day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  • Classic (black) — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Monday, Thursday, Saturday
  • White — Sunday 12pm-12am, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
  • ⭐Brown — Tuesday, 6pm-12am

How to feed and befriend critters - FAQ

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 10
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Why befriend critters?

Giving a critter a food that it likes will cause the critter to give you a present in return. So far, for us, this has been either things like Dream Shards or Motifs, or in some rare cases, the Foxes give us Iron Ingots.

You can also tame critters, which is purely cosmetic, but once they're your friend, you'll be able to have one of them follow you around as a companion animal — and you can pet them, too!

How do I tame critters?

You'll have to feed them. You can feed them either a food that they like, or a food that they love, but either way, the chance of them becoming your companion is somewhat random. Sometimes it takes one or two tries, sometimes more.

How do I know if I've tamed a critter?

They'll appear in your Wardrobe under the "Companions" tag, and they'll be filled in on your Collection tab in the menu.

How do I pet a critter?

You have to set it as your companion first, which means taming them and then setting them as a companion from the wardrobe menu. Once you've done that, you can approach them and press A to pet them.

How many times do I have to feed them?

Anywhere from once, to four or five times.

Disney Dreamlight Valley - How to tame critters 7
Image: Kate Gray / Nintendo Life

Why can't I feed this critter?

If you offer a critter food that they don't like, they will shake their head. You can try again, but you may have to chase them down again.

Why is this critter making me chase it still?

Dreamlight Valley seems to be having some problems with pathfinding — and the animals can't always get to the areas they want to be in during the chase, usually due to obstacles like ice spikes, mushrooms, stumps, and thorns. This means they basically get stuck in chase mode. Try fast travelling away and back again, or just try again tomorrow!

When do they appear?

Good question! There are several colours of each animal, and while the common ones usually hang around an area all day, there are also rare varieties of each one that appear for shorter periods of time each week.

What are the Rare Critters?

Each type of critter has one or two Rare variants, which are unusual colours, and they only appear once a week.


And that's it for our critters guide! Check back when new critters are added for all the info.

If you're looking for more info about Disney Dreamlight Valley, check out our guides detailing How To Raise Friendship Fast, How To Upgrade Your House, How To Upgrade Tools, How To Earn Star Coins Fast, and How To Make The Ratatouille Recipe, as well as our general Tips And Hints guide.