What do Camels eat in Minecraft?

Compared to the Llama, the Camel is a newer edition to the ever-expanding cast of animal mobs in Minecraft. They roam desert biomes as you’d expect, and can be saddled like Horses or Llamas. They can also breed, which begs a very simple question by the rules of Minecraft breeding. Every mob needs to eat some kind of item in order to enter breeding mode and produce an offspring. So what is it for the Camels? What do Camels eat in Minecraft?

The Camel Breeding Food in Minecraft

Given they are a desert biome animal, there’s not exactly many options for food they could possibly feed on. If you’re thinking about the desert biome, it’s probably the first thing that popped into your head.

Yup, they eat the cactus! Which fortunately means breeding them is relatively easy. Just find the nearest cactus sticking out against the sand background, add it to your inventory, and find a pair of Camels.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Holding the cactus in your hand will cause any nearby Camels to follow you, like with other mobs when presented with their breeding food. From there you can right click as usual to feed the Camel, then feed another next to it if you want to breed for a new one.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

You will then be presented with a newborn little Wednesday creature. Feeding it a cactus block will also heal it by two blocks if your Camel is injured. It’ll also regenerate health over time.

In real life, Camels do in fact eat cacti as well. Their mouths are resilient enough with specific features that allow them to eat even something as prickly as a cactus. On that front, Minecraft did their research. It’s not something to take for granted considering Rabbits still breed with carrots, which are not actually good for them in real life.