What Do Llamas Eat in Minecraft? Feeding & Taming Guide

In the vast world of Minecraft, players can interact with a variety of mobs, and llamas are one of the most unique and useful animals in the game. Whether you’re trying to tame a llama, heal it, or breed it, the first question that usually comes up is: what do llamas eat in Minecraft?
This detailed guide will answer that question and cover everything you need to know about feeding llamas, their behaviors, how to tame and breed them, and how to use them in survival or creative gameplay.
- 🦙 What Do Llamas Eat in Minecraft?
- 📍 How to Get Wheat and Hay Bales
- 🐾 How to Feed Llamas in Minecraft
- 🤝 How to Tame Llamas in Minecraft
- 🧬 How to Breed Llamas in Minecraft
- 📦 What Are Llamas Used For?
- 🗺️ Where to Find Llamas in Minecraft
- ⚙️ Java vs Bedrock: Do Llamas Eat the Same Things?
- ❓FAQ: What Do Llamas Eat in Minecraft?
- 📌 Final Thoughts
🦙 What Do Llamas Eat in Minecraft?
Llamas in Minecraft primarily eat hay bales and wheat.
- Wheat: Helps with healing and slightly speeds up growth in baby llamas.
- Hay Bale: Significantly speeds up growth, heals more, and is used for breeding.
Llama Food Chart:
Food | Effect |
---|---|
Wheat | Heals 2 health points, grows baby llamas by 10% |
Hay Bale | Heals 10 health points, grows baby llamas by 100%, used for breeding |
So, if you want to breed llamas or grow babies faster, hay bales are the best choice.
📍 How to Get Wheat and Hay Bales
If you’re wondering how to find or craft what llamas eat, here’s how:
🌾 How to Get Wheat:

- Farm it: Plant wheat seeds and wait for them to grow (use a hoe on grass/dirt, plant seeds, and water).
- Villages: Raid farms or trade with farmers.
- Chests: Commonly found in villages and dungeons.
🟨 How to Make Hay Bales:

- Crafting: 9 wheat = 1 hay bale.
- Open a crafting table and fill all 9 slots with wheat.
Tip: Hay bales are stackable and a great way to store large amounts of wheat.
🐾 How to Feed Llamas in Minecraft
Feeding a llama is simple. Follow these steps:
- Hold the food (wheat or hay bale) in your hand.
- Right-click (or tap/press the use button) while aiming at the llama.
- You’ll see heart particles if it’s happy or ready to breed.
💡 Feeding Tips:
- Feeding a llama that’s already tamed can heal it.
- Feeding a baby llama makes it grow faster.
- Feeding two tamed llamas a hay bale will cause them to enter love mode and breed.
🤝 How to Tame Llamas in Minecraft
Before you can feed llamas for breeding or use them to carry items, you must tame them.
Steps to Tame a Llama:
- Find a llama: Usually found in the Savanna and Mountain biomes.
- Mount it: Right-click (or tap) on the llama with an empty hand.
- Stay on: It may throw you off at first, but keep getting back on.
- Hearts appear: Once hearts appear, the llama is tamed.
Note: Unlike horses, you can’t control a llama directly with a saddle. You use a lead to guide it or form a caravan.
🧬 How to Breed Llamas in Minecraft

Once tamed, you can breed llamas using hay bales.
Steps to Breed Llamas:
- Tame two adult llamas.
- Feed each one a hay bale.
- Hearts appear, and a baby llama will spawn nearby.
Breeding Tips:
- Baby llamas can’t be ridden or equipped with chests.
- They will grow into adults over time or with wheat/hay bales.
- Llamas have strength levels (1–5), which affect how much they can carry.
📦 What Are Llamas Used For?
Llamas aren’t just for show—they’re useful in survival, especially when transporting items.
Key Uses of Llamas:
🧳 1. Carrying Items (Like Chests)
- Equip a llama with a chest to give it inventory slots (3–15 slots, depending on strength).
- Right-click the llama with a chest to equip it.
- Shift-right-click to open the inventory.
🚶 2. Forming Caravans
- Lead one llama with a lead, and up to 9 other llamas will follow automatically, forming a caravan.
- Great for long-distance travel with storage.
🏹 3. Defense
- Llamas spit at hostile mobs (and players if provoked).
- Their spit deals small damage but can help deter enemies like zombies or skeletons.
🗺️ Where to Find Llamas in Minecraft

Llamas spawn naturally in:
- Savanna Plateau biomes
- Windswept Hills (formerly Extreme Hills)
They usually spawn in herds of 4–6 and can come in different colors: white, brown, gray, and creamy.
Wandering Trader Llamas:
- You may also see Wandering Traders with two llamas leashed to them.
- These llamas can be leashed, tamed (after removing the lead), and used like regular llamas.
⚙️ Java vs Bedrock: Do Llamas Eat the Same Things?
Yes, llamas eat the same food in both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. Feeding mechanics, breeding, and behavior are consistent across both versions of Minecraft.
However, some minor differences may exist in spawning mechanics or AI behavior, but not in their diets.
❓FAQ: What Do Llamas Eat in Minecraft?
Can you feed llamas apples or carrots?
No. Llamas in Minecraft only eat wheat and hay bales. They do not eat apples, carrots, or golden food like horses.
Can llamas eat automatically from the ground?
No. Players must manually feed llamas—unlike animals in some mods, they won’t eat from troughs or dropped food.
Do llamas need food to survive?
Not exactly. Llamas don’t need to eat unless you want to heal, grow, or breed them. They won’t die from starvation.
How do I know if a llama is hungry or damaged?
Llamas don’t show hunger, but if they’ve taken damage, feeding them wheat or hay bales will restore health.
📌 Final Thoughts
So, what do llamas eat in Minecraft? Now you know the full answer: wheat for healing and growth, and hay bales for breeding and rapid growth. Feeding llamas helps you tame, breed, and build llama caravans for better item transport across your world.
These quirky mobs may not be as flashy as horses or wolves, but llamas are incredibly useful—especially for adventurers and builders who love exploring large biomes or working without shulker boxes.
Make sure to keep a good stock of wheat and hay bales, and soon you’ll have your own caravan of cute, cargo-carrying llamas ready for your next journey!