How long does it take for owlbears to mature?

Question

As a druid I tamed an Owlbear Cub, and was wondering how long it would take for it to be helpful in battles.

Answer 1

I found no information regarding the age of Owlbears.

I searched my old books (Editions are in the list below). I searched my old magazines (Dragon & Dungeon - covering 2^nd and 3.5 Edition). I couldn't find anything on the lifespan of Owlbears. I couldn't even find anything about their ages in World of Warcraft d20, where there are multiple species of Wildkin.

What I would do as DM

I would base their age off something relatively their size, and found in the same wilds... Brown Bears.

1. Brown Bears typically live to be about 25 years in the wild, according to National Geographic.
2. Brown Bears are typically considered an adult at the age of 6, according to National Park Service.
3. Brown Bear cubs leave their mother around two and a half years of age, according to Bear Life.

As a 'mature' cub, I would give the owlbear half the hit dice and damage statistics one size category lower:

D&D 5^th Edition

• AC: 12
• Hit Dice: 3d10
• To Hit: +3
• Claw Damage: 1d4
• Bite Damage: 1d4

D&D 4^th Edition

• Don't own any 4^th Edition Material. Unable to configure.

D&D 3.5 Edition

• Hit Dice: 3d10 (Rounded Up to give the second feat)
• Natural Armor: +2
• Claw Damage: 1d4
• Bite Damage: 1d6

AD&D 2^nd Edition

• Hit Dice: 3
• AC: 7
• THAC0: 17
• Claw Damage: 1d4
• Bite Damage: 1d10

AD&D 1^st Edition

• Don't own any 1^st Edition material. Unable to configure.

D&D (Original) (Greyhawk Supplement)

• Hit Dice 5
• Armor Class 5
• THACO 14
• 2 Claw attacks (1d 6 each)
• 1 Bite attack (1d12)
• Special attack: Claw attacks that score 18 or better cause 2d8 additional damage.

As a mature adult, statistics as normal for an owlbear.

Answer 2

Around two years, if it has been trained to hunt.

Dragon Magazine #214 published in February of 1995 has an article titled "Ecology of the Owlbear", by Jonathan M. Richards. In it, we see this note about owlbear young on page 90:

The young will be raised by the mother for the first two years, during which time she will teach the cubs how to hunt for themselves. After the end of the second year, the cubs will go off on their own and stake out their own territory.

So an owlbear is able to properly hunt and fend for itself at around two years of age, if it has been trained to do so, so this is probably a good estimate for when an owlbear will be able to engage in combat. I think the important observation here is that the owlbear mother trains her young to hunt, which is likely a crucial contributing factor in an owlbear's effectiveness in combat. I would expect an owlbear who spent its first two years in captivity to still hit hard when provoked due to its size, but I would also expect it to be generally less effective as a combatant without some kind of training.