
Looking to dominate Grow a Garden with the best pets? I’ve spent hundreds of hours testing every single companion in this game, and I’m here to share exactly which pets will transform your farming experience. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a veteran player looking to optimize your garden, this complete tier list will show you which pets deserve your precious Sheckles and which ones you should avoid.
Before diving into my rankings, let me explain how I evaluate these pets. After testing over 150 different companions across multiple updates, I rank pets based on several key factors: their ability to apply valuable mutations, passive income generation, growth speed boosts, and overall utility. The best pets in Grow a Garden consistently provide high-value mutations like Golden, Fortune, or Chakra, while lower-tier pets offer minimal benefits that barely impact your farm’s productivity.
| Pet Name | Tier | Rarity | Key Ability | Egg Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsune | SS | Divine | Applies Chakra (15x) or Foxfire Chakra (90x) mutation | Zen Egg |
| Corrupted Kitsune | SS | Divine | Forces 9 fruits into Corrupt Chakra mutations | Kitsune Chest |
| Golden Goose | SS | Divine | Lays golden egg with Fortune mutation every 13 min | Sprout Egg |
| Dragonfly | S | Common | Turns random fruit gold every 5 minutes | Bug Egg |
| Disco Bee | S | Rare | 12% chance to apply Disco mutation every 20 min | Anti Bee Egg |
| T-Rex | S | Legendary | Spreads high-value mutations to multiple fruits | Dinosaur Egg |
| Butterfly | S | Rare | Removes mutations, applies Rainbow (50x value) | Anti Bee Egg |
| Moon Cat | S | Legendary | Boosts fruit size, Night plants may replant | None (Shop) |
| Phoenix | S | Divine | Boosts mutation machine, applies Flaming mutation | None (Event) |
| Space Squirrel | S | Mythical | 15% chance for Voidtouched (135x) mutation | None (Event) |
| Scarlet Macaw | S | Legendary | 15.95% chance for Verdant mutation every 12 min | Paradise Egg |
| Raccoon | A | Uncommon | Steals fruits from other players every 15 min | Night Egg |
| Capybara | A | Legendary | Prevents pet hunger, grants 3.48 XP/sec | Paradise Egg |
| Giant Ant | A | Common | 10% chance to duplicate harvested fruits | Bug Egg |
| Praying Mantis | A | Common | Increases mutation chance by 1.5x for 10 sec | Bug Egg |
| Queen Bee | A | Rare | Pollinates fruits, resets pet cooldowns | Bee Egg |
| Triceratops | A | Legendary | Advances 3 plants growth by 33 minutes | Dinosaur Egg |
| Mole | A | Uncommon | Digs treasure every 80 seconds | Night Egg |
| Pterodactyl | A | Legendary | Applies Windstruck or Twisted mutations | Dinosaur Egg |
| Mimic Octopus | A | Legendary | Copies another pet’s ability every 15 min | Paradise Egg |
The Kitsune stands as the undisputed king of Grow a Garden pets, and for good reason. This Divine-rarity companion from Zen Eggs doesn’t just steal fruits from other players it transforms them into profit powerhouses. Every 20 minutes, your Kitsune visits a random player’s farm, applies the Chakra mutation (15x multiplier) to a fruit, duplicates it, and brings it back to you. But here’s where it gets insane: there’s a small chance it applies Foxfire Chakra instead, which gives a 90x multiplier. I’ve personally made billions of Sheckles from just a few Foxfire Chakra fruits. The rarity of this pet makes it incredibly valuable in trading, and owning one instantly elevates your farming game to the next level.
If regular Kitsune is the king, Corrupted Kitsune is the emperor. Available exclusively through Kitsune Chests, this pet launches cursed energy at nine different fruits in your garden every 20 minutes, with a 20.24% chance to mutate each one. Successful mutations apply Corrupt Chakra, and there’s an even rarer chance for Corrupt Foxfire Chakra. What makes this pet SS-tier isn’t just the high-value mutations it’s the consistency. Unlike regular Kitsune that relies on stealing from others, Corrupted Kitsune works entirely on your own farm, making it perfect for solo players who want guaranteed high-value mutations.
Golden Goose revolutionized farming in Grow a Garden when it was introduced. Every 13 minutes, this pet lays a Golden Egg plant that already has the Fortune mutation (50x multiplier) applied. You can harvest and sell this egg like any fruit, but here’s the brilliant part: when you sell it, the Fortune mutation spreads to another random fruit in your garden. This creates a snowball effect where your entire farm can become covered in Fortune mutations. I’ve turned gardens worth millions into gardens worth trillions using this strategy. The Golden Goose is available from Sprout Eggs and remains one of the most sought-after pets in the game.

Don’t let the Common rarity fool you this Bug Egg pet punches way above its weight class. Every 4 minutes and 50 seconds, Dragonfly turns one random fruit in your garden into a Golden variant. Golden mutations are consistently valuable throughout the game, and having a steady stream of them transforms your passive income. What I love about Dragonfly is its reliability. While other pets depend on percentage chances, Dragonfly delivers every single time its cooldown completes. For new players grinding their first billion Sheckles, Dragonfly is absolutely essential.
Disco Bee might be the most fun pet to watch while also being incredibly profitable. This Anti Bee Egg pet has a 12% chance to apply the Disco mutation to nearby fruits every 20 minutes. Disco mutations are flashy, valuable, and highly desirable for collectors. I’ve found that Disco Bee works best when paired with multiple fruit-bearing plants in close proximity. The mutation chance triggers for all nearby fruits, so strategic plant placement maximizes your chances of landing multiple Disco mutations per activation.
T-Rex brings prehistoric power to your garden with its mutation-spreading ability. This Dinosaur Egg pet occasionally eats a random mutation from a fruit in your garden and applies it to three other fruits. This ability is game-changing when you have high-value mutations like Fortune, Golden, or Voidtouched. I’ve used T-Rex to spread a single Foxfire Chakra mutation across my entire garden, turning one lucky fruit into a farm-wide jackpot. The key is favoriting your most valuable mutated fruits so T-Rex doesn’t accidentally consume them.
Butterfly performs mutation alchemy that’s both risky and rewarding. When it finds a fruit with five or more mutations, it removes all of them and replaces them with the Rainbow mutation (50x multiplier). This might seem counterintuitive removing mutations to add one but Rainbow is so valuable that it’s almost always worth it. I use Butterfly strategically, letting fruits accumulate random mutations from weather and other pets, then letting Butterfly convert them into guaranteed high-value Rainbow variants.
Moon Cat combines utility with profit in ways few other pets can match. This Legendary pet naps in random spots, boosting nearby fruit size while sleeping. Larger fruits sell for more, making this a simple but effective passive income boost. The real magic happens with Night-type plants, which have a 6% chance to replant themselves when harvested. This means some of your most valuable crops can become self-sustaining, eliminating the need to buy seeds repeatedly. I’ve had Moon Mango trees replanting themselves for weeks, generating passive income without any investment.
Raccoon is the budget-friendly alternative to Kitsune, and it’s incredibly effective for its rarity. Every 15 minutes, this Night Egg pet fetches a duplicate of a fruit from another player’s farm and brings it to you. While it doesn’t apply mutations like Kitsune, the raw duplication ability means free profits. I’ve stolen everything from common Strawberries to rare event fruits, and each theft is pure profit since I didn’t spend Sheckles on the seed.
Capybara is the ultimate support pet for long grinding sessions. This Paradise Egg companion creates a 15-stud radius where other pets never lose hunger, and it grants 3.48 XP per second to all pets within range. Pet hunger management becomes tedious in late game, so Capybara eliminates that problem entirely. The passive XP gain also helps level up your other pets faster, making their abilities more effective. I keep Capybara active during extended AFK farming sessions because it keeps everything running smoothly.
Giant Ant proves that simplicity can be powerful. This Bug Egg pet has a straightforward 10% chance to duplicate harvested fruits. That’s it. No complex mechanics, no specific conditions just consistent duplication. Over hundreds of harvests, this 10% adds up to significant bonus income. I’ve calculated that Giant Ant increases my overall farm output by roughly 8-10% when active, which compounds over time into massive gains.
Praying Mantis is the mutation catalyst your garden needs. Every 80 seconds, it emits an aura for 10 seconds that increases nearby crop mutation chances by 1.5x. This stacks with other mutation-boosting effects, creating scenarios where mutations become extremely common. I position my highest-value plants near where Praying Mantis typically roams, maximizing the chances that premium mutations land on premium crops.
Queen Bee delivers double utility that makes it indispensable. First, it magically pollinates nearby fruits every 25 minutes, applying the Pollinated mutation. Second, and more importantly, it resets a random pet’s cooldown every 30 minutes. This cooldown reset can trigger your Dragonfly, Disco Bee, or even Kitsune abilities earlier, essentially giving you free extra activations. The value compounds when you have multiple high-tier pets, as Queen Bee keeps them cycling through their abilities faster.
Red Fox attempts to steal seeds from other players’ plots every 10 minutes, but the success rate is disappointingly low. When it works, you get free seeds, which is nice. When it doesn’t work which is most of the time you’re essentially running a pet with no ability. I only recommend Red Fox if you’re specifically hunting rare event seeds that aren’t available in your shop, otherwise, better options exist.
Hedgehog grants a 1.51x size bonus to Prickly fruits, which sounds useful until you realize how few Prickly fruits exist in the game. The application is too narrow. If you’re running a specialized Prickly fruit farm, Hedgehog becomes situationally valuable. For general farming, it’s dead weight taking up a pet slot that could go to something more universally useful.
Fennec Fox copies one random mutation from a fruit in another player’s farm every 22 minutes. The problem is “random.” You might copy a worthless mutation or you might copy something valuable. The RNG makes it unreliable. However, during events with exclusive mutations, Fennec Fox can snag mutations you can’t get otherwise, which bumps it slightly higher in B-tier.
Squirrel gives you a 2.5% chance to keep seeds when planting them. This sounds better than it performs. The percentage is so low that you’ll barely notice the effect, even after planting hundreds of seeds. Early game players might appreciate the seed refunds when every Sheckle counts, but mid-game and beyond, the benefit becomes negligible.
Owl grants an additional 0.06 XP per second to all active pets. The XP gain is microscopically small. Pet leveling already happens gradually through normal play, and Owl’s contribution barely accelerates it. I’ve never built a strategy around Owl’s ability because the impact is too minimal to matter.
Orange Tabby increases fruit size when napping in its radius. Unlike Moon Cat which consistently provides value, Orange Tabby’s effect is too inconsistent and too small to significantly impact your income. The size boost might add a few percentage points to your harvest value, but you’re better off using pets that provide mutations or duplications for substantially higher returns.
Chicken reduces Pet Egg hatch time. While this sounds helpful, egg hatching isn’t a major bottleneck in Grow a Garden. You’re not constantly hatching eggs, and when you do, the time reduction from Chicken doesn’t justify giving it a permanent pet slot. It might have temporary value when you’re actively hatching multiple eggs, but it’s not worth keeping long-term.
Both Deer variants have a chance to make berry fruits stay after harvesting. The problem is berry fruits are generally low-value crops. Having them stick around doesn’t generate meaningful income compared to what higher-tier pets provide. These pets are collection fodder, not serious farming tools.
Starfish gains additional XP for itself. That’s it. It doesn’t help your garden, doesn’t boost your income, doesn’t provide mutations it just levels itself up faster. This is completely useless. Pet levels barely matter unless the pet has good abilities, and Starfish has none. Hard pass.
Turtle makes Sprinklers last longer. Sprinklers are so cheap and last so long normally that this ability provides almost zero value. The time saved replacing sprinklers is measured in seconds per hour of gameplay. Don’t waste a pet slot on Turtle.
Robin reduces player size by up to 20%. This is purely cosmetic with zero farming benefits. It’s actually annoying because it makes clicking on plants harder. Robin belongs in D-tier because it actively makes your gameplay worse while providing no benefits.
Crab occasionally pinches another player on the server, earning you a small amount of Sheckles. The Sheckles gained are so trivially small that you’d earn more by selling a single mutated fruit. Crab is a meme pet, not a farming pet.
Common Pig has a small chance for fruits to grow with mutations in its radius. The chance is so low and so unreliable that you’re better off using Praying Mantis or any other mutation-focused pet. Common Pig is outclassed in every scenario where you’d consider using it.
Kiwi reduces hatch time of eggs every 60 seconds. Similar to Chicken, this addresses a problem that doesn’t really exist. Egg hatching isn’t frequent enough to justify a pet slot for hatch time reduction. Save your slots for pets that generate income or mutations.
Smart players don’t just use one good pet they create synergistic combinations that multiply effectiveness. Here are my tested combinations that work phenomenally well.
The Mutation Multiplier setup uses Praying Mantis, Dragonfly, and Disco Bee together. Praying Mantis increases mutation chances, making it more likely that the fruits Dragonfly and Disco Bee target will accept additional mutations from weather effects or other sources. I’ve seen fruits with five or more mutations using this setup, which then become perfect targets for Butterfly to convert into Rainbow variants.
The Income Maximizer combination runs Giant Ant, Raccoon, and Moon Cat simultaneously. Giant Ant duplicates your harvests, Raccoon steals fruits from others for free income, and Moon Cat boosts fruit sizes for higher base values. This setup maximizes your Sheckles per hour without relying on rare mutation RNG.
The XP Farm configuration uses Capybara, Blood Owl, and Cooked Owl together. Capybara provides 3.48 XP/sec, Blood Owl adds 0.5 XP/sec, and Cooked Owl contributes 0.17 XP/sec to all active pets. This stacking effect rapidly levels your pets, making their abilities more potent. Higher-level pets have better stats and stronger effects, so accelerating their growth pays long-term dividends.
Getting top-tier pets requires understanding the egg system. The Pet Egg Shop refreshes every 30 minutes and can stock three eggs at once. Different eggs have different stock chances Bug Eggs appear at 3%, Zen Eggs at 1%, and Paradise Eggs at 0.5%. The rarity of the egg doesn’t guarantee a good pet, but it heavily influences the odds.
Bug Eggs are the best value for new players because they can produce Dragonfly, Giant Ant, and Praying Mantis all S-tier or A-tier pets at common/uncommon rarity. You’ll hatch many Bug Eggs before getting Zen Egg or Paradise Egg opportunities, so Bug Eggs provide the fastest path to strong pets.
Zen Eggs offer the chance at Kitsune, which alone makes them worth every Sheckle. Even if you don’t get Kitsune, other Zen Egg pets like Tanchozuru and Kappa provide solid abilities. Save your Sheckles and buy Zen Eggs whenever they appear in stock.
Event eggs require participation in limited-time events. Phoenix, Space Squirrel, and many other S-tier pets came from events. Always participate in events and prioritize getting event eggs, as these pets often can’t be obtained after the event ends, making them valuable for trading even if you don’t use them personally.
After spending over 500 hours in Grow a Garden, I’ve learned that pet management is just as important as choosing the right pets. Here are my hard-earned tips.
Always favorite your most valuable mutated fruits before activating pets like T-Rex or Spinosaurus. These pets eat mutations from fruits to spread them elsewhere, and you don’t want them accidentally consuming your trillion-Sheckle Foxfire Chakra fruit. Favoriting protects fruits from pet interactions.
Position your garden strategically around where pets roam. Most pets have range-based abilities that affect nearby fruits. I arrange my highest-value plants in clusters where pets frequently wander, ensuring abilities like Praying Mantis’s mutation boost or Moon Cat’s size increase affect my premium crops instead of random low-value plants.
Swap pets based on your current goals. If you’re actively playing and harvesting, use pets like Giant Ant and Raccoon that maximize harvest rewards. When going AFK, switch to pets like Dragonfly and Disco Bee that apply mutations automatically without requiring interaction. This optimization squeezes maximum value from your three pet slots.
Kitsune and Corrupted Kitsune are the rarest pets, both at Divine rarity with extremely low hatch rates from their respective sources. Kitsune comes from Zen Eggs which have only 1% shop appearance rate, and then Kitsune has less than 1% hatch rate from those eggs.
By default, you can have three pets active in your garden simultaneously. This can be expanded through pet slot purchases, but three slots is standard for most players.
No, pets are permanent once obtained. They remain in your inventory forever unless you manually sell them. Selling pets gives you a portion of their value back in Sheckles.
Yes, pet levels increase their effectiveness. Higher-level pets often have improved percentages on their abilities, faster cooldowns, or enhanced effects. Leveling happens automatically as pets remain active in your garden.
Bug Eggs offer the best value for beginners. They appear frequently in the shop (3% chance), cost relatively few Sheckles, and can hatch Dragonfly, Giant Ant, and Praying Mantis all of which are S-tier or A-tier pets that will serve you well throughout the game.
Generally yes, unless you’re collecting. Duplicate pets can be sold for Sheckles, and you’ll typically want to keep only your best pets active. The only exception is if you’re holding duplicates for trading purposes.
Pets can apply mutations to fruits through their abilities. Mutations are special effects that multiply a fruit’s base value. For example, Golden mutation makes a fruit worth more, Fortune provides 50x multiplier, and Foxfire Chakra gives 90x multiplier. Multiple mutations can stack on a single fruit, creating extremely valuable harvests.
Trading mechanics vary by update, but generally pet trading is possible. Rare pets like Kitsune are highly valuable in trades and can be exchanged for massive amounts of Sheckles or other rare pets.