There are a few items in Stardew Valley that are incredibly useful, valuable, or important, but are hard to find. Among them are Prismatic Shards, the Ancient Seeds, and, the focus of this article, Dinosaur Eggs.

Once you manage to find a Dino Egg, you can incubate it into a baby Dinosaur that will grow up to lay more. You can also create Dinosaur Mayonnaise from Dino Eggs, which is extremely valuable. Additionally, the Museum requires one as an artifact donation, so if you plan to complete the Museum’s collection, you’ll need one of these rare Eggs. To help you with this arduous task, we’ve compiled some tips on finding that valuable Dinosaur Egg Stardew seems eager to hide from you.

Incubate Your First One

Once you find your first Dinosaur Egg, Stardew Valley’s local museum seems like a great place to bring it, since you’ll need to donate it to complete the collection. However, you should not donate your first one! If you place it in an incubator in your Coop instead, you’ll basically have an endless supply from that point forward. This is because it’ll hatch into a Dinosaur, which can then produce more Eggs. It’s recommended by the pros that you always incubate your first one rather than donating it.

You’ll need to have upgraded your Coop to a Big Coop so you have an incubator. The egg will take around 12.5 days to hatch, and the Dinosaur itself will produce a new egg every seven days. Then, once the Dinosaur lays an Egg, you can donate that one instead.

Check the Mountain

Stardew Valley Dinosaur Eggs are technically artifacts, so that means they can be found in artifact spots — those little wiggling twigs you see around town. You’ll need to head to the Mountain, since it’s the only place that the Dino Egg can be found in an artifact spot. Just use your hoe on what looks like worms (yes, they’re actually twigs) and you’ll dig up whatever’s there.

There’s a very low chance of finding a Dino Egg this way (around 0.6%), but it is possible. The area on the Mountain where you can find a Dinosaur Egg in an artifact spot includes the Quarry, though, so it’s a bigger area than you might initially think.

Go Fishing

Many, many people say they found their first Dino Egg by fishing. It has a possibility to appear in those little treasure chests you sometimes see while fishing. The chance is still small (around 0.8 or 0.9%), but still slightly higher than from an artifact spot, which are less common than fishing treasure chests as well.

It doesn’t matter where you fish, but you will need to have a Fishing skill level of at least 2 and to have found at least one artifact this way. Dino Eggs are only found in these treasures chests once those conditions are met.

Lures, Magnets, and Enchantments

Since fishing is often the best way to find a Dino Egg, it’s wise to do all you can to make it more likely. Certain fishing tackle and bait can increase your chances of success.

The Magnet, despite looking like a lure, actually goes into the bait slot of your fishing rod. It adds a 15% chance to find a treasure chest while fishing. The Treasure Hunter lure also adds another 5%, and you can use both the Treasure Hunter and the Magnet at the same time since they go in different slots. Together, these two items will greatly increase your chances of finding treasure, which will in turn make it more likely that you find that sweet Dino Egg.

With the newest game update, there is another way to make the most of fishing for a Dinosaur Egg: Stardew Valley’s new forging system on Ginger Island. On the final floor of the Volcano Dungeon, you’ll find a Forge where you can enchant your tools.

There are four fishing rod enchantments, two of which will seriously help you when you’re trying to find this rare artifact. The “Preserving” enchantment gives you a 50% chance of not consuming any bait or tackle when you use your fishing rod; and, the “Master” enchantment gives you an extra Fishing skill level, making it easier to reel in fish (and treasure). Enchanting a tool costs a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards, and it’s random which enchantment you get. But, you can keep rerolling for a new one if you have the resources to spend.

Live the Pirate Life - Professions and Food

There are a few more ways to ensure success in finding a Dinosaur Egg while fishing, as well. Once you reach Level 10 in the Fishing skill, you can choose the Pirate profession, if you chose the Fisher profession at Level 5. This adds another 15% chance to find a treasure chest while fishing.

Remember, you can switch professions at the Statue of Uncertainty in the Sewers.

While you’re living life like a pirate, it can also be helpful to eat like one. Since you only get the items from a treasure chest if you manage to catch the fish as well, consider eating food that increases your Fishing skill. This is to ensure you actually do catch the fish and receive the treasure. The following dishes increase your Fishing skill temporarily:

  • Seafoam Pudding (+4) Lobster Bisque (+3) Fish Stew (+3) Dish O’ The Sea (+3) Escargot (+2) Fish Taco (+2) Trout Soup (+1) Maple Bar (+1) Chowder (+1) Shrimp Cocktail (+1)

Catch a Movie

This is probably the least obvious method for finding a Dinosaur Egg: head to the Movie Theater! This is only possible after you complete either the Community Center or the JojaMart Community Development Form. Inside the Movie Theater, you’ll find a crane game where you can try to win some cool prizes.

A Dinosaur Egg can sometimes be found hidden behind the foliage in the crane game. Dropping another prize will reveal it. There’s a rare chance for the game to have a Dino Egg as a prize, but you can go in and out to refresh the prizes as many times as you can afford. Unfortunately, about 25% of the time you see a movie, there’ll be another person using the crane game.

Head to Skull Cavern

Skull Cavern is home to many rare items, including the elusive Prismatic Shard. However, you can also find a Dinosaur Egg here if you’re lucky. There’s a random chance for the “infested” floor to be a prehistoric floor.

On these prehistoric floors, you’ll sometimes find Dino Eggs as forageable items, which is so exciting if you don’t have one yet. If not, you might get lucky with the Pepper Rex enemies found here.

These dinosaurs primarily appear on these prehistoric floors and have a good chance to drop a Dino Egg when killed (about 10%). They can be found on other floors, but this is where they appear in the highest numbers.

Eradicate Dust Sprites for a Helpful Ring

You may have noticed the Monster Eradication Goal chart in the Adventurer’s Guild on the wall. You’ll earn some cool rewards for completing these challenges. If you slay 500 Dust Sprites, you’ll be rewarded with the Burglar’s Ring.

This Ring greatly increases the chances (about 2x) for monsters to drop loot. This means that you’ll have around double the chance of those Pepper Rexes dropping a Dino Egg when you defeat them.

With the new Volcano Forge, you can also supercharge the assistance you get from Rings. The Forge allows you to combine two Rings for the price of 20 Cinder Shards. Combining two Rings into one means you don’t need to unequip another to make way for the Burglar’s Ring. There’s also the new Lucky Ring that was added in the same update. By combining the Lucky Ring and the Burglar’s Ring, you’ll be finding a Dino Egg in no time.

Improve Your Luck

Speaking of Luck: your Luck rating has quite a few uses in the game, and it can increase your chances of finding a Dinosaur Egg, too. First and foremost, your luck can determine the chance of finding treasure while fishing. Additionally, if you find a Dino Egg in Skull Cavern and then get knocked out by enemies, your Luck determines how many items you lose, meaning you’re less likely to lose that precious find.

You can increase your Luck in a few ways. There are some recipes that temporarily increase it, you can get a permanent upgrade after completing Secret Note #20, and the aforementioned Lucky Ring will also give you a nice boost. You also have a daily Luck rating, which you can check by selecting the “Fortune Teller” on your TV.

These dishes will give you a temporary Luck buff:

  • Magic Rock Candy (+5) - However, this cannot be cooked and must be obtained in other ways. Lucky Lunch (+3) Pumpkin Soup (+2) Banana Pudding (+1) Fried Eel (+1) Ginger Ale (+1) Shrimp Cocktail (+1) Spicy Eel (+1)

It’s worth noting that Shrimp Cocktail gives a Fishing buff and a Luck buff, so if you’re trying to find a Dinosaur Egg in treasure chests, this is a great option.

Be Patient

When it comes to finding a Dinosaur Egg, there’s one bit of advice that will save you from frustration more than anything else: be patient. Just like finding a Prismatic Shard or an Ancient Seed, finding a Dino Egg can sometimes take a very long time.

Stardew Valley is meant to be a relaxing game, so don’t let yourself get too worked up. You’ll find a Dinosaur Egg, it just might not happen right away. Sit back, take a deep breath when yet another treasure chest just has a single Geode in it, and be patient.

NEXT: Stardew Valley: Complete Guide And Walkthrough