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Courting, Nesting and Raising Hatchlings

Nesting Guide

Nesting in Isle Evrima is a core game mechanic that helps secure the continuation of your character, supports survival, and opens up deeper social and strategic aspects of the game. It is another interesting layer of The Isle waiting to be discovered. Nesting can be a rewarding experience not only for you, but also for other players, while encouraging teamwork. As a hatchling, you do not begin your adventure completely alone. Instead, you start your journey in The Isle Evrima within the safer environment of your family. You may be spared long travel distances and immediately get the chance to interact positively with other players.

written by Cosma, Faristo & Dexter

Quicklinks

How to Find a Mate

Courting is the beginning of the pair-bonding process between two dinosaurs and is required before you can build a nest together.

Step One: Find a dinosaur of the opposite sex and the same species. You can do this by using a 1-call and hoping for a response, ideally from a member of the opposite sex.

Step Two: Make sure you are not in a party and stand facing each other.

Step Three: The male dinosaur now starts the courting behavior by holding the N key. Once the male has completed the courting behavior, the female also presses the N key.

Important! - Do not give up: You may need a few attempts. Make sure you are standing directly opposite each other! If it does not work right away, check that neither of you is in a group. Try standing closer together and make sure the N key has not been assigned to another function in your key bindings.

A Successful Pair Bond

Both players are added to their own party. If you are not in a party together but are still shown as paired, the pair bond was not successful. Break the pair and try again. Paired dinosaurs, even if they go offline and log back in hours later, will always be automatically added to the party.

The status report [TAB] shows who you have paired with, and the group window shows that both of you are in the same party. Keep in mind that each dinosaur species has a limit on how many members it can have in a party. For example, if a group can contain 5 players of the same species, only 3 eggs will hatch even if you click more.

Once you are paired, you can add new members up to the group maximum.

Courting

courting triceratops in The Isle

Courting

2 Triceratops before pair bonding in The Isle

Pair Bonding

Images: The male uses a 1-call to search for females ready to mate. Once a member of the opposite sex has been found, you can start the pair-bonding process by facing each other and holding N.

Building a Nest & Laying Eggs

Once you have found a suitable mate and the eggs have been incubated, you will build a nest together and place the fully incubated eggs inside it.

The female now has to lie or stand on the nest and place the eggs into it using the E key. After that, either the male or the female must take care of the nest. Holding the E key cools the nest down, but you need to stand in front of the nest to do this. To warm the nest, lie down on it. The temperature determines the sex of the hatchlings: colder temperatures produce more males, while warmer temperatures produce more females.

  • Not every egg has to be incubated.
  • Each egg removes some nutrients and food from you, so it is very important to have eaten and drunk enough beforehand.
  • Ideally, you should have a perfect diet before laying eggs.
  • It can also be useful to find a suitable nesting spot near a water or food source.
  • An egg symbol appears above the nest when it is ready. This is shown in the nest menu.
  • Laying eggs allows another player to join the nest immediately.
  • Once the eggs have been placed in the nest, they are vulnerable to other dinosaurs that may have them on their menu! So guard your nest carefully!
  • Eggs can be smelled and provide all 3 diets when eaten!

Nest Building Is the Male's Job

Only eggs that are 100% incubated can be placed in the nest. To build a nest, the male must press the N key and then choose the location for the future nest with the B key. Location and weather affect how warm or cold the nest is. You then build the nest with the B key.

Triceratops building a nest

Build Nest

Triceratops lying on the nest

Lay Eggs

Egg status (TAB) in The Isle

Nest Status

Triceratops sitting on the nest

There are also dinosaurs that build their nest by finding and adding branches (icon!). You can smell the required branches with the Q key.

Raising & Feeding Hatchlings

When raising young dinosaurs, there are a few important things to keep in mind:

  • Hatchlings must leave the nest before they can be fed. They can press the E key to trigger the begging call or begging animation. Deinosuchus hatchlings do not beg; they eat right away.
  • Parents or caretakers should hold the E key while standing over a hungry hatchling until a “smacking” sound is heard. This usually allows a baby to be fed successfully within 1-2 attempts.
  • Hatchlings inherit the diet of whoever feeds them. The better the food, the faster they grow. Incubating at a suitable nesting spot can further speed up growth.
  • At around 20% growth, hatchlings can no longer beg and will need species-appropriate food and water. This varies by dinosaur species; some need this earlier, others later.

Perfect Diet = Faster Growth

Important: Other dinosaurs and potential predators can also smell and track down your nests or eggs with the Q key! Once all eggs have hatched, you should therefore destroy the nest as well as any rotten or unfertilized eggs.

Rotten Eggs

Eggs can become rotten if there is a lack of good nutrition, the right temperature, care, or if the nest has been abandoned.

  • To clear rotten eggs from your nest, stand up and hold the E key. This removes all rotten eggs from the nest.

  • The better your diet, the more eggs you can lay and the lower the chance that rotten eggs will appear.

Nest Invitations With / Without a Code

Your nest receives a ! symbol when a player has requested to join your nest through the nest screen, found at the bottom left under Eggs in the server's main menu. You can only accept invitations when you are near your nest.

  • Nests can be private or public.
  • Private nests require a code to join. You can find it under Nest in the top left. You can share this “nesting code” directly with players or friends you want to hatch in your nest.
  • Public nests only require the pair to accept the request.

When an invitation is accepted, the invited player is placed into one of the eggs. They can then decide for themselves when they want to hatch by pressing the space bar.

YouTube Videos About Nesting

The following videos complement this guide on nesting.