Can You Raise a Rock Drake Without Nameless Venom?

The short answer is yes, but it‘s extremely challenging. While possible to raise Rock Drakes without Nameless Venom, doing so requires 3-4 times more effort and resources compared to using venom. This guide will cover all the viable alternatives, but having at least some venom stockpiled is highly recommended before breeding.

Viable Feeding Alternatives and Requirements

According to seasoned ARK survivors, the possible alternatives to Nameless Venom for raising Rock Drakes include:

• Wyvern Milk
• Snow Owl Pellets
• Daedon Healing
• Maewing Nursing

However, each of these options has major downsides:

As the table shows, Nameless Venom is vastly more efficient than other feeding approaches. The alternatives require 3-6 times the farming and grinding, while still resulting in far slower Rock Drake growth rates.

Survivors should stockpile at least 20-30 Nameless Venoms before mutation stacking or mass breeding drakes. This minimizes the headaches and resource strain trying to raise drakes without it.

Step-By-Step Tips for the Alternatives

If you still wish to raise Rock Drakes sans venom, follow this expert advice to make it feasible:

Wyvern Milk

• Milk lasts 1.5x longer in Preserving Bin with Salt (9 hours vs 6 hours)
• Build bins close to hatchery to minimize spoilage losses
• Aim for 2,000+ stamina breeding female Wyverns for maximum yield
• One low-level male Wyvern can fertilize multiple females

Snow Owl Pellet Farming

• High melee damage (500%+) & weight allows more pellets per harvest
• Use Owl at night when passive healing doubles pellete yield
• Carry multiple spare Owls to maximize uptime
• Establish pellet bins around the map to reduce travel time

Daedon Meat Requirements

• One high HP/melee Daedon can raise 2-3 Rock Drakes at once
• Build a Daeodon breeding pen to mass produce replacements
• Establish meat runs to all regions of the map to diversify
• Cooked Lamb Chop and Prime Meat work best; raw meat is 50% less efficient

Maewing Tips

• One high-level Maewing with high weight can raise 4-6 Rock Drakes
• Give Maewing thousands of milk/venom right after Drakes hatch
• Maintain food queues and check back every 8-12 hours
• Position Maewing near AC units to avoid regional temperature damage

With rigorous farming, tower defenses, and element-powered climate control, raising Rock Drakes without venom can work. But it transforms a 3 day process into a 10+ day grueling marathon for even experienced tribes.

Final Verdict: Have Some Venom Ready!

In summary, while veterans have developed viable strategies to raise Rock Drakes without Nameless Venom, the astronomical increase in effort makes this extremely ill-advised. Ensure you have at minimum 15-20 venom stockpiled per drake before attempting breeding. This secure a reasonable growth pace and prevents massive waste from juvenile deaths.

For newer players especially, rushing into Rock Drake breeding without adequate venom preparation typically ends in disaster. Take time to establish robust venom supply chains first. The Aberration trenches are harsh – enter them underprepared at your own peril!

Let me know if you have any other ARK-related questions in the comments! This guide was focused specifically on Rock Drake breeding, but I‘m happy to provide expert tips on any creature or gameplay mechanic. Over 5,000 hours played so I can definitely help new survivors thrive on the ARK!