Attention: If anyone knows advanced strategies for specific tier 10s, please let me know! I am making a separate guide for more advanced players! :D
There are many different types of food in the game, and different types give different amounts of XP points and fill up your boost bars by different amounts. In addition to healing over time, eating food also helps heal your animal.
Meat is the best source of food and is colored with a combination of white and pink and looks like sushi. They give 1,000 XP and refill boost bars by a relatively large amount. Some animals drop varying amounts of them when they are killed. Meat can be eaten by all animals.
Plankton can be varying shades of green or blue, depending on the habitat. Each gives 250 XP and refills boost bars by a decent amount. They can spawn anywhere in the water. Plankton can be eaten by all animals.
Algae can be green, yellow, or pink, depending on the habitat. Each gives 62 XP and refills boost bars by a small amount. They can spawn anywhere on underwater terrain. Algae can be eaten by all animals below tier 7 (except lampreys), but also penguins, frogfish, manatees, oarfish, and coconut crabs.
Dam food is orange. Each gives 43 XP and refills boost bars by a very small amount. They spawn at the roots of beaver dams. Dam food can be eaten by all animals below tier 8, but also sea turtles, leatherback turtles, eagles, and tiger sharks.
Magma is bright red. Each gives 156 XP and refills boost bars by a mediocre amount. They are spawned by underwater volcanoes. If an animal that has lost temperature time eats magma, some of the temperature time will replenish. All animals can eat magma.
Apples are dark red. Each gives 120-130 XP and refills boost bars by a mediocre amount. They spawn in apple trees. Apples can be eaten by all animals below tier 8 except lampreys but also coconut crab can eat those.
Berries are purple. Each gives 62 XP and refills boost bars by a small amount. They spawn in berry bushes. Berries can be eaten by all animals below tier 8 except lampreys, but also coconut crab can eat those.
Coconuts are brown and look like, well, coconuts. Each gives 375 XP and refills boost bars by a mediocre amount. They spawn in palm trees, and after 10 seconds, they will fall until they reach land or underwater terrain, where they remain until eaten. Coconuts can be eaten by pelicans and coconut crabs.
Ice food is white. Each gives 43 XP and refills boost bars by a small amount. They spawn in the arctic biome at the ice pieces on the ground. Dam food can be eaten by all animals below tier 8.
Bird poop is brown. Each gives 12 XP and refills boost bars by a miniscule amount. Seagulls drop them every 10 seconds. Bird poop falls in the air and sinks in water until it touches land or underwater terrain, where they remain until eaten. Bird poop can be eaten by all animals except lampreys and seagulls.
Bubbles are transparent blue and can be “eaten” by animals that breathe air. They do not give XP. Instead, when “eaten”, 1 second of the animal’s oxygen is replenished. They spawn at shipwrecks and float upwards for a certain distance or until they reach the surface or terrain.