This guide explains the details of breeding, pregnancy, and nesting to ensure the safe arrival of new pups to your pack! It'll touch on pair bonds, breeding males, fertility, and more.
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Breeding · Heat · Breed · In Heat · Aging Crystal · Pregnant · Nursing · Cooldown · Heat Cycle · Breeding Male · Pair · Pair Bond · Litter · Pup · Conception · Parent · Stud · Remove · Retire · Pair List · Fertility · Infertile · Extremely Low · ELF · Very Low · VLF · Juniper Berries · Pasque Flower · Random · Random Mutation · Low Fertility · Breeding Items · Slots · Scry · Scrying · Ultrasound · Pregnancy · Nesting · Nest · Making Nest · Nesting Material · Raffle · Raffle Stud · Friday · Panda · Community · Wings
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Breeding wolves is a great way to bring new wolves into your pack and experiment with Wolvden's genetics system!
Breeding is locked until you complete the unique quest "The Next Generation", which has you temporarily assign a breeding male and insta-birth a litter to learn the basics.
Heats
Female wolves must be in heat in order to breed. You can tell that a female is in heat if they have a heat icon next to their name and a note in the Breeding Information section of their page.
In Heat icon.
The heat cycle indicator on your wolf's page.
Hovering over the heat icon will tell you how many rollovers the wolf has left of their heat. Heats last for 4 days and count down from 4. So, even if the icon says that the wolf has one rollover of heat left, they won't actually be in heat after their next rollover.
A new adult wolf, either befriended or customized, will go into heat 8 rollovers after they join the pack. There is not currently a way to befriend wolves who are already in heat.
Wolves aging into adulthood will go into heat immediately at 1 year old unless they were aged up using an Aging Crystal or adopted from the Enclave, in which case their heat may be delayed a few rollovers. If a female wolf isn't bred during their heat, they will go back into heat 8 days later. You can instantly push a female wolf into heat using an Elk Heart, purchased from the Grove, but only if the female wolf is not pregnant, nursing, or on a breeding cooldown.
An Elk Heart.
Heat Cycles
Wolves bred on their heat
Wolves not bred on their heat
Heat
4 rollovers
Heat
4 rollovers
Pregnancy
4 rollovers
Default
8 rollovers
Nursing
5 rollovers
Heat
4 rollovers
Cooldown
15 rollovers
Default
8 rollovers
Heat
4 rollovers
Heat
4 rollovers
If a wolf is bred on the first day of their heat, it will be 20 rollovers until they can breed again.
Grouse Tip!
A variety of different Heat Calculators are available [HERE], which you can use to check when a wolf's next heat will be or how many heats they have left in their lifetime!
Breeding
Breeding two wolves will expend 2% energy from each of them for each pregnancy attempt. A wolf requires at least 2% energy, 50% hunger, 80% mood, and 1 HP to breed. Additionally, illness may affect breeding -- some illnesses prevent a wolf from breeding altogether while other illnesses may have the chance to be transmitted via breeding.
Wolves can be bred either on the Breeding Male page or the Pair Lists page, both detailed below.
The litter size and attributes of the pups are determined at conception, right when the wolves are bred. This means that changing one of the parents' appearances or stats after they have already been bred will have no affect on the puppies. This is also true of personalities -- puppies have a 90% chance to get a personality from one of their parents' personality group(s) and a 10% chance for a completely random personality.
Breeding Males
Breeding Males, or access to an outside stud, are the primary method of breeding new players are introduced to. While you can breed any wolves in your pack using Pair Bonds (explained below), only Breeding Males can become studs and breed outside the pack.
Assigning a Breeding Male
After the tutorial quest, you're able to pick a new breeding male on your den's Breeding page. Breeding Males are intended to be a permanent role, and they cannot be removed without a costly fee. As such, it's recommended that users do not assign their breeding male until they obtain a wolf that they would be happy to breed with for multiple months.
Any adult male can be made your breeding male and they will remain your breeding male until their death, or until you remove them from the role for a GC cost. You cannot select pups or adolescents to become your breeding male.
Selecting a new breeding male.
Removing a Breeding Male
Removing a breeding male from his position early can be done on the Breeding Male Settings page. It has a base cost of 20 GC. If you have assigned this breeding male within the past 30 rollovers, an additional 25 GC cost will be added, for a total of 45 GC. Even after the 30-day cooldown is over, you still have to pay 20 GC to remove your breeding male early. This can never be done for free.
Removing a breeding male.
If you don't want to pay to remove your breeding male early, you can wait until his death, after which he will be retired for free. Breeding males, unless they are your lead wolf, will die between the ages of 7 years 6 months and 8 years, like normal pack members. If your breeding male dies within 30 rollovers after he was assigned the role, the role cooldown will not automatically be bypassed. So, if you want to assign a new breeding male at this point, you must pay to bypass the cooldown first. If your breeding male dies more than 30 rollovers after they were assigned the role, no fee is necessary to assign a new breeding male to replace them.
Important: If you want to remove your breeding male from their position without killing/retiring them, you must do this from the Breeding Male Settings page. Do not use the "Retire" option on the wolf page, as this will send the wolf to your dynasty and you will be unable to revive them. If you "Remove" the breeding male from his role on the Breeding Male Settings page, he will not be killed and will become a normal pack member.
Putting Your Breeding Male up for Public Stud
Interested in making some money from your breeding male? You can put your breeding male up for public stud on the breeding settings page! This will allow other players to send breeding requests to your male for currency!
Why can't I apply an applicator to my stud?
A: Breeding males that are up for public stud cannot be edited. This means that you cannot apply applicators or change their genetics in any way. Luckily, you can easily remove the male from public stud with the checkbox on the settings page, apply the applicators, and then put them back up for stud! You do not need to remove a breeding male from their position entirely in order to apply applicators to them.
Your breeding male will start the week with 15 stud slots. Every stud request you get will take one stud slot. If you drop to 0 stud slots, you can pay to refresh the slots, but you can only buy an additional 15 every week for a total of 30 possible slots every week. Stud slots refresh on Mondays.
Menu for refreshing stud slots.
Breeding to Outside Studs
In addition to being able to breed within your pack, you can also choose to breed to other players' breeding males. This is done through studding.
You can find studs to breed to either by searching them on the [Search] page (by checking the For Stud option), or browsing the [Studs] forum board. After you have found a stud to breed to, visit their page, where you can find a Breed to this Breeding Male option. From there, select your in-heat female from the dropdown menu.
Before sending a stud request, make sure that you have read the player's Stud Rules if they have any. Oftentimes, specific rules are laid out that might mean your request will be denied if you don't abide by them.
Next, you can select the method of payment you prefer. This could be SC or GC, but you cannot send a combination of these currencies. You have the option to send a message to the stud owner if you would like. Otherwise, you can send your stud request!
Sending a stud request.
The currency that you paid for the stud request will disappear from your account after the request is sent. If the request is rejected, the currency will be returned to you. The stud owner can breed your female as many times as is needed to get them pregnant, but you will only have to pay the singular fee. After your female is pregnant, you will receive a notification that the breeding was successful. If the stud owner rejects your request, you will also receive a notification informing you of this.
An accepted stud request notification.
If your female is sick with an [illness that affects breeding], or doesn't have enough energy, HP, hunger, and mood, the stud owner will not be able to breed them. After sending the stud request, you will not be notified if the female is unable to breed. So, if you have an outgoing stud request, make sure to keep the female happy and healthy!
You can view all of your current outgoing stud request on your Breeding page, under the [Outgoing Stud Requests] tab. This is also where you can remove stud requests if you've changed your mind.
Pair Bonds
Pair Bonds are a method of breeding which can allow a non-breeding male to have pups! However, the male wolf can only breed with the female in his pair. Pair bonding is unlocked on your 30th rollover, after which the accompanying quest becomes available to you!
Pair bonds consist of two wolves and can be formed regardless of the wolf's sex. Different-sex pair bonds are able to breed when the female wolf is in heat. Same-sex pair bonds are not able to naturally conceive puppies, but any pair bond is able to adopt puppies from the [Enclave]. Wolves can only be in one pair bond at a time, and you cannot trade a wolf that is in a pair bond.
The pair bond section of a wolf's page.
Pair bonds will last until one of the wolf's passes, or until you choose to disband the bond manually. Disbanding a pair bond does not cost anything and can be done on the [Pair Lists] page. However, after a pair bond is disbanded (whether through death or player choice), either wolf who was in that pair bond will loose all of their Mood. You must play with them quickly before the next rollover to prevent them from leaving your pack. Disbanding a pair bond will also put both wolves on a 30-rollover pair bond cooldown during which they cannot be added to a new pair bond.
If a wolf leaves your pack due to neglect, their pair bond will be disbanded. Reclaiming them into your pack does not renew the pair bond, even if both wolves left and were reclaimed at the same time.
Breeding males can also be a pair bond, and they will still be able to breed to any female inside or outside the pack like they are able to normally. Females in pair bonds are also not required to breed to the male in their pair bond -- they can breed to a breeding male or an outside stud, as well. If a male in a pair bond is not a breeding male, however, they will only be able to breed to the female in their pair bond.
You can view all of your current pair bonds on the [Pair Lists] page, where you can also disband the pair or breed them if both wolves are eligible.
A pair bond on the pair lists page.
Pair Bond Requirements
Wolves can only form pair bonds after they have been in your pack for at least 7 rollovers. You can see how many rollovers a wolf has been in your pack at the bottom of their page!
The rollover count on a wolf's page.
Wolves must be at least one year old, not already in a pair bond, and not in a pairbond cooldown to be added to a new pair bond.
Pair Bond Restrictions
Each user has a limit to how many pair bond breedings can be done each month depending on their territory size. Note that this is not how many pair bonds can be made, but how many breedings can be done by the pair bonds already made. Pair bond breedings are defined by breeding done through the Pair Lists page. If your breeding male is in a pair bond, but you are breeding him from the breeding male page, it will not count towards your monthly limit.
Fertility is a value that female wolves have that determines how easy they become pregnant, specifically how many tries it might take to successfully breed them. The lower the fertility value, the harder the wolf is to breed. You can view your female wolf's fertility category on their page, but the exact percentage isn't visible until you reveal the wolf's fertility on the [Fertility Snake] page. This costs 20 SC per wolf.
Sex-changing your female wolf multiple times will not change their fertility.
The fertility section of a wolf's page.
Each fertility threshold and their associated percentages are listed below:
Infertile
0%
Extremely Low
1%
Very Low
2 - 10%
Low
11 - 30%
Average
31 - 50%
Good
51 - 70%
Very Good
71 - 90%
High
91 - 99%
Extremely High
100%
You can temporarily increase or decrease your wolf's fertility using Juniper Berries or Pasque Flowers, purchased from the [Fertility Snake]. Juniper Berries decrease your wolf's fertility by 10% and can be stacked until the wolf is at 1% fertility. Pasque Flowers increase your wolf's fertility by 10% and can be stacked until the wolf is at 100% fertility. The fertility adjustment only applies until the wolf's next successful breeding.
Juniper Berries
Pasque Flower
According to the breeding tutorial quest, wolves with low fertilities may have a higher chance of birthing a random mutation (but not a genetic one)! Fertility does not affect how many pups a wolf tends to have in one litter, this is purely random.
Tala's mention of fertility in relation to random mutations during the breeding tutorial.
Breeding Items
Breeding items are items that are meant to be used either on a male or female wolf to affect their next breeding. These items will guarantee certain results in their upcoming litter.
Most items can be used on either one of the parents, however some can only be used on a male or a female wolf. When stacked between both parents, items of the same or similar purpose will use the female's item, while the male's item will remain for the next breeding. This is so that two items with counteracting uses will not both be used in the same breeding.
If a breeding male has a breeding item applied, this will be visible on the breeding page, under Stud Information.
The breeding item section of the breeding page.
You can also see which breeding items a wolf has applied in the Breeding Information section of their page.
The breeding item section of a wolf's page.
The chart below lists all current breeding items, what they do, and how to get them.
Black Sage
Guarantees a minimum of 4 puppies in the wolf's next litter.
The [Scrying Stone] is accessible from the Crossroads. This page can provide information about potential and future pregnancies.
For 10 SC, you can select an adult male and an adult female wolf to scry together. This will return 4 potential puppies that the female wolf could have if these wolves are bred together. The puppies you are shown are only a possibility and there is no guarantee that the puppies from this breeding will look like this. The scrying stone will not display mutations, either random or genetic, so it cannot be used to determine if your wolf is a carrier of a mutation.
You can scry any wolves together regardless of age, but you cannot scry two wolves of the same sex together.
Art from the Scrying Stone page.
For another 10 SC, you can get an ultrasound of one of your female wolves. This will tell you exactly how many puppies that wolf is carrying. The wolf is guaranteed to give birth to this many puppies as long as they are properly nested before the rollover of the birth.
Results of an ultrasound.
Wolf Birth Information
On a wolf's page, you can view information about when they were born! This includes their starting stats as well as birth location and time.
This information is recorded when they are born, not when they are conceived.
Moon phase, season, and biome born in do not currently have any gameplay effect -- they're just for fun!
Pregnancy takes a toll on a wolf's body! Pregnant wolves will regain energy at a slower speed than normal. Pregnant lead wolves will regain 8% energy every 7.5 minutes as opposed to the normal 10%, while pack members will only get 3% energy every 7.5 minutes as opposed to the normal 5%. Pregnant wolves will lose 30% hunger every rollover instead of the normal 20%. Once they have given birth, these effects will wear off.
The banner on a pregnant wolf's page.
Wolves will have icons next to their names that change depending on how far along in the pregnancy they are. Hovering over the pregnancy icon will display how many rollovers this wolf has left of the pregnancy.
4 rollovers until birth
3 rollovers until birth
2 rollovers until birth
1 rollover until birth
Making Nests & Nesting Wolves
Once pregnant, wolves must be nested in order to safely give birth, or else they will risk losing some pups when they are born. Only one Nesting Material is required to safely nest a wolf. There are a variety of ways Nesting Material can be obtained.
A notification about a wolf who gave birth without a nest.
If a wolf is not nested the day before they are due to give birth, you will receive a notification in your Daily Rollover Summary reminding you to nest them.
A warning about an unnested wolf.
Nesting Materials can be crafted in the [Crafting] section of your Hoard using 10 items. The items used for nests are generally "soft" in nature. This will include Herbs (with the exception of Charcoal), soft trophy items like pelts and tails, feathers, and large leaves. You must use Remnants to craft Nesting Materials. If the item can produce a remnant, you cannot use that item, you have to use its remnant.
Nesting Material.
Nesting Materials can also be purchased from [Raccoon Wares] for 60 SC each, received from certain [explore encounters], and rewarded from "The Next Generation" unique quest.
Once a wolf is nested, they can no longer complete tasks until they give birth. Wolves cannot be nested while they are actively completing a task, either. Hunters will not be able to join hunts, scouts will not be able to scout, etc. Nested lead wolves will still be able to explore and battle.
Grouse Tip!
If you trust yourself to remember to nest them, we recommend waiting to nest your pregnant wolves until the day before they are due to give birth. This will allow the wolf to continue contributing to the pack even while they are pregnant.
Auto-Nesting
If you consistently forget to nest your wolves, or you just don't want to worry about forgetting, Auto-Nesting may be a good investment for you! This tool can be purchased from the [Grove] and operates on a subscription-based system, meaning that you have to renew the tool every month or few months if you would like to keep using it.
The auto-nesting artwork.
Auto-Nesting will automatically nest your wolves during the rollover that they give birth. With Auto-Nesting, wolves can be nested even while they are completing tasks, unlike with normal nesting. This means that you can send your wolves out to complete their tasks and then log off for the night, and rest assured that your pregnant wolves will be properly nested when you check in on them after rollover.
Auto-nesting still requires that you have a Nesting Material in your hoard. If you do not have any Nesting Materials in your hoard on the rollover that one of your wolves gives birth, they will not be nested by auto-nesting. As long as you have a good stock of Nesting Materials, your pregnant wolves will never suffer complications with birth while Auto-Nesting is enabled.
Your wolves' Family pages provide helpful information on their lineage and family history!
You can access the Family page by clicking this View Family button on any wolf's page, even a wolf you do not own.
At the top of a wolf's family page, you will find three different stats determined by the wolf's heritage. These stats will be touched on later in this guide!
Below this, you'll find your wolf's family tree. The top tree in this pedigree is the paternal/father's side tree, while the bottom is the maternal/mother's side tree. Clicking on the name of any wolf is this pedigree will bring you to that wolf's separate family page.
If a wolf in this family tree has passed, they will still show up on the tree. However, if a wolf has been chased, they will display as a black silhouette.
Inbreeding Coefficient (COI)
A wolf's inbreeding coefficient provides information on how related a wolf's parents are.
It is calculated by comparing the father's side of the family tree against the mother's side of the family tree. If wolves that appear in the father's side of the tree also appear in the mother's tree, then a rate of COI is present for the offspring.
A lower COI means that inbreeding is more distant, while a higher COI means that inbreeding is more recent.
A COI of 0% means that the mother and father are not related. However, this does not mean that the wolf is not completely inbreeding-free. If the mother is inbred, but does not share any common ancestors with the father, then the wolf's COI will still be 0%.
A COI of 25% means that a pup has been bred to its parent or full sibling.
A COI of 12.5% means that half-siblings have been bred, or a grandchild has been bred to a grandparent.
A COI of 6.25% means that first cousins have been bred, or a great grandchild has been bred to a great grandparent.
Any COI greater than 25% means that there are more than on instances of inbreeding in the family tree.
COI is only calculated on the first page of a wolf's family tree. If their parent's are related past their grandparents, it will not be included.
Instances of Inbreeding
The instances of inbreeding value represents how much inbreeding is present in a wolf's family tree.
Inbreeding in this case is defined by one wolf appearing in the tree more than once, whether on both parents' sides or one parent's side.
In this example, the wolf has one instance of inbreeding because ✨ ƟMƝƖΔ shows up on the family tree twice.
Instances of inbreeding are only calculated on the first page of the wolf's family tree. So, if a wolf's great great grandparent is also their father, they will not have any instances of inbreeding shown.
Generation
A wolf's generation displays how far back its family tree goes.
Any wolf is always at least 1st Generation. If the wolf does not have parents listed on the family tree, it is 1st Generation. 1st Generation wolves are often also referred to as "NBW" or "New Befriended Wolf", because all wolves you claim from exploring are 1st Generation.
For every additional column of wolves that goes back on the family tree, you can add one generation.
For example, this wolf is fourth generation, because the further back line in their family tree stops at 3 out. With the wolf itself already being one generation, you then add 3 to this, to get 4th generation.
This value counts as far back as the family tree goes, even if it extends off of the first page of the family tree.
Effects of COI, Inbreeding, and Generation
The COI, instances of inbreeding, and generation of a wolf do not have any effect on any game mechanics.
These values are purely for lore or personal use, as well as market value. Lower generation wolves with no COI and no inbreeding are highly valued in the market.
