Disney Dreamlight Valley’s critters are often found roaming around, minding their own business.
It’s possible, though, to not only feed critters but also befriend them and add them to your collection. This in turn lets you assign a critter as as your companion, so they’ll walk alongside you as you play the game.
Every critter has its own favourite food, appears during certain times of day and has to be approached in a different way.
This guide, then, will tell you how to approach, feed and collect critters, and when to look for specific species.
Disney Dreamlight Valley– How to befriend critters with food
Each critter has a favourite food as well as other food it likes to eat. The game doesn’t tell you what these foods are, however, but we’ll cover that in the next section.
To befriend a critter, you have to approach it and feed it with the right type of food. you may do this with either their favourite food or their liked food.
If you use a favourite food you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag as a reward – this is the only way to get many of the motifs used for designing clothes.
If you use a different food they like instead you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a different, common reward depending on the species.
When you feed a critter with a favourite or liked food, a heart will appear above their head and you’ll get your reward. You may not instantly befriend them, however.
That’s because it takes at least two feeds (and usually more than that) to befriend a specific colour of critter.
What’s more, only the first feed each day counts, so you can’t just throw food at a critter in one go until it likes you.
To befriend a critter and add it to your collection, then, you have to keep visiting the same critter (and the same colour of critter) over the course of a number of days and keep feeding it until a message appears telling you it’s been added to your collection.
Once this happens, you just have to go into your Wardrobe menu (as if you were changing your outfit) and look for the Companion option to find all the critters you’ve collected. Choose one and they’ll walk alongside you as you play.
Disney Dreamlight Valley – How to approach and feed each critter
you may’t just walk up to every critter, because some of them will run away from you.
Here’s how to approach every critter, what their favourite food is, what else they like to each and what rewards you’ll get for feeding them (if they aren’t added to your collection).
Crocodiles
Crocodiles are found in the Glade of Trust biome, and run away if you go near them.
To approach them, you have to watch them. When their head is up, don’t move. When their head goes down, take one step towards them, then their head will go up again, so stop. Repeat this until you get close enough and they’ll lie down. You can then interact with them.
A crocodile’s favourite food isLobster. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes other specific types of fish. Give it one of the following and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Cucumber Seed:
Foxes
Foxes are found in the Frosted Heights biome, and run away if you go near them.
They just like a chase, however, so if you run up to one it’ll run off again. They’ll do this a couple of times before they give up, at which point you’re able to approach and interact with them.
A fox’s favourite food isWhite Sturgeon. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes other specific types of fish. Give it one of the following and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or an Iron Ingot:
Rabbits
Rabbits are found in the Peaceful Meadow biome, and run away if you go near them.
A rabbit’s favourite food isCarrot. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes other vegetables. Give it any other vegetable at all and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Lettuce Seed.
Raccoons
Raccoons are found in the Forest of Valor Trust biome, and run away if you go near them.
To approach them, you have to watch them. When they stand right up, don’t move. When they crouch back down again, take one step towards them, then they’ll stand straight up again, so stop. Repeat this until you get close enough and they’ll sit down. You can then interact with them.
A raccoon’s favourite food isBlueberry. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes Gooseberry and Raspberry. Give it either of those and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or Garlic.
Ravens
Ravens are found in the Forgotten Lands biome, and just fly around you without ever coming too near.
You have to walk close to one and stand still until they start flying round in circles. After they fly round a few times they’ll then lower down to nearer the ground, at which point you’re able to slowly approach them.
A Raven’s favourite food is any5-Star Meal. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes 3-Star Meals and 4-Star Meals. Give it one of those and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Gold Ingot.
Sea Turtles
Sea turtles are found in the Dazzle Beach biome, and can be quite nervous.
If you approach a sea turtle, they’ll get scared and hide in their shell. Just stand and wait until they’re comfortable enough to come out of their shell again. Once they do this, you can approach them.
A sea turtle’s favourite food isSeaweed. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes seafood. Give it one of the following and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Coconut:
Squirrels
Squirrels are found in the Plaza biome, and aren’t shy of you at all.
You can just walk over to them without any problems and you’ll be able to interact with them right away.
A squirrel’s favourite food isPeanut. Give it that and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or a Motif Bag.
It also likes other fruit. Give it any other fruit at all and you’ll get either a Dream Shard or Oregano.
Sunbirds
Sunbirds are found in the Sunlit Plataue, and also aren’t shy of you, so you may walk over to them without any issue.
Sunbirds eat flowers, but they’re are unique in that each colour has their own favourite types of flower.
This can be quite confusing to remember, but if you just want to befriend them and don’t care about getting Motif Bags, bear in mind that every colour of sunbird likes eating any type of flower, so you can just give them any flower you have and it’ll count towards befriending them.
If you give them a flower they like, you’ll get either a Dream Shard, Cherry, Cocoa Bean or Crystal.
If you really want to give them their favourite food, here’s every colour’s favourite food:
Disney Dreamlight Valley – When does each critter appear?
If you want to collect every colour of every critter, you’re going to have to play the game at different times of the day.
That’s because some critters only appear between certain times, and on certain days of the week.
Here’s the full schedule of every colour of critter, to help you get those last species that are evading you.
Note: when the schedule says ‘all day’ it doesn’t just mean daylight hours, it means from 00:01 to 23:59 that day.
