Magic Item Slots for Animals

The vast diversity among species of Familiars and Animal Companions often makes it difficult to determine what kinds of magic items are suitable for certain creatures to wear. While wearable Wondrous Items typically resize themselves to fit a creature trying to wear them, the situation becomes a little more complicated if the creature simply lacks the requisite appendage or body part.
The following article presents all of the animal companions and familiars available to characters, divided into general categories that loosely define their body type as well as which magic item slots are available to them. Available slots followed by either “(saddle)” or “(horseshoes)” denote that creatures of that body type can only wear magic items in the appropriate slots as long as they are either saddles or horseshoes, respectively (for instance, a hoofed quadruped can wear a saddle of the sky-river, but not a belt of dwarvenkind).
Some creature body types are able to grasp and carry one object at a time in their paws, claws, or hands, including weapons, rods, wands, and staves, though they may not be able to use such items effectively (DM’s discretion) and take penalties for nonproficiency as usual. These are indicated by “Yes” in the “Grasp/Carry” column in the table below.
Specific animals may be able to wear different types of items as specified in their entries.
If you are using animal companions or familiars from another source, you can use the information in this table as a guideline for those creatures. Additionally, DMs may use this table as a guide to determine what kinds of magical gear non-humanoid monsters can wear and use. Note that the rules in this section are merely guidelines, and ultimately it is up to the DM to decide what kinds of animals can use particular types of magic items.

Avian

• Available Slots: Armor, belt, chest (saddle), eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, wrist
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: Yes
  
• Animal Companions: Archaeopteryx, axe beak, bustard, dimorphodon, dire bat, eagle, giant owl, giant raven, giant vulture, hawk, moa, ornithomimosaur, owl, pteranodon, quetzalcoatlus, roc, trumpeter swan
  
• Familiars: Archaeopteryx, arctic tern, bat, chicken, dodo, hawk, kakapo, osprey, owl, parrot, peafowl, penguin, ptarmigan, puffin, raven, rhamphorhynchus, snail kite, thrush, toucan

Biped (claws/paws)

• Available Slots: Armor, belt, chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, shoulders, wrist
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: Yes
  
• Animal Companions: Allosaurus, ceratosaurus, chalicotherium, deinonychus, giganotosaurus, iguanodon, kangaroo, pachycephalosaurus, parasaurolophus, spinosaurus, therizinosaurus, troodon, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor
  
• Familiars: Compsognathus, wallaby

Biped (hands)

• Available Slots: All item slots
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: Yes
  
• Animal Companions: Ape, baboon, chimpanzee, devil monkey, megaprimatus
  
• Familiars: Monkey, tarsier

Piscine

• Available Slots: Belt, chest (saddle), eyes
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Anglerfish, armorfish, blue whale, dolphin, dunkleosteus, gar, seahorse, hammerhead shark, manta ray, narwhal, orca, plesiosaurus, shark, stingray, tylosaurus, walrus
  
• Familiars: Lamprey, popoto dolphin, pufferfish, seal

Quadruped (claws)

• Available Slots: Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders, wrist
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Badger, bear, capybara, cheetah, digmaul, dire polar bear, dire rat, dog, giant mole, giant porcupine, giant skunk, giant weasel, goblin dog, grizzly bear, hyena, leopard, lion, marsupial devil, marsupial lion, panda, polar bear, saber-toothed cat, thylacine, tiger, wolf, wolfdog, wolverine
  
• Familiars: Arctic fox, arctic hare, armadillo, cat, donkey rat, ermine, flying fox, flying squirrel, fox, hedgehog, jerboa, koala, lemming, margay, meerkat, mole, mongoose, otter, platypus, raccoon, rat, red panda, sloth, skunk, squirrel, weasel

Quadruped (hooves)

• Available Slots: Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, feet (horseshoes), head, headband, neck, shoulders
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Antelope, aurochs, bison, boar, brontotherium, buffalo, cattle, elk, giraffe, horse, llama, megaloceros, moose, pony, ram, reindeer, stag, styracosaurus, yak, zebra
  
• Familiars: Goat, pig

Quadruped (other)

• Available Slots: Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders, wrist
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Amargasaurus, ankylosaurus, arsinoitherium, baluchitherium, brachiosaurus, camel, deinotherium, diplodocus, elasmotherium, elephant, eohippus, hippopotamus, kentrosaurus, mammoth, mastodon, megatherium, mokele-mbembe, rhinoceros, stegosaurus, triceratops, uintatherium, wolliped
  
• Familiars: –

Quadruped (short legs)

• Available Slots: Armor, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Alligator, archelon, crocodile, dimetrodon, elasmosaurus, frog father, giant chameleon, giant frilled lizard, giant frog, giant gecko, giant salamander, giant snapping turtle, glyptodon, goliath frog, kaprosuchus, megalania, monitor lizard, prionosuchus, tortoise
  
• Familiars: Dwarf caiman, fire salamander, horned lizard, lizard, marine iguana, snapping turtle, toad, tuatara, turtle

Serpentine

• Available Slots: Belt, eyes, headband
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Basilosaurus, constrictor snake, electric eel, giant leech, giant moray eel, giant slug, reef snake, spitting cobra, titanoboa
  
• Familiars: Sea krait, viper

Unusual (plant and vermin)

• Available Slots: Belt, eyes
  
• Can Grasp/Carry Items: No
  
• Animal Companions: Cameroceras, corpse-eater fungus, creeping puffball, eurypterid, giant ant, giant assassin bug, giant beetle, giant caterpillar, giant centipede, giant cockroach, giant crab, giant dragonfly, giant locust, giant mantis, giant mantis shrimp, giant mosquito, giant scorpion, giant solifugid, giant spider, giant squid, giant termite, giant wasp, giant whiptail centipede, gulper plant, hunting cactus, octopus, rash creeper, slithering sundew, snapping flytrap, sniper cactus, squid, web tyrant spider
  
• Familiars: Blue-ringed octopus, butterfly, cockroach, creeper ivy, dweomer cap, flowering lattice, giant isopod, giant tardigrade, greensting scorpion, house centipede, ioun wyrd, king crab, leopard slug, moth, petrifern, ravenous tumbleweed, razor fern, sawleg locust, scarlet spider, shimmerwing dragonfly, spiny starfish, suture vine, trilobite, vampire squid