How to Tame a Pet in Grounded

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Obsidian Entertainment’s survival experience pits players against gigantic insects in a playground sandbox. The good news? You can actually befriend some of the wee beasties that you discover on your travels and make them your very own pets, replete with a few handy benefits. As a result, for those on the hunt for how to tame a pet in Grounded, here’s what you’ll need to do.

Taming a Pet in Grounded

First things first, there are three different types of insect that you can tame in Grounded: Aphids, Gnats, and Weevils. They all require slightly different variations of Slurry in order to befriend them and make them your pet. Most importantly, however, you’ll need to craft a Grinder for your Work Bench in order to create the Slurry.

To get your mitts on a Grinder recipe, head to the Haze lab in the Haze biome. Remember to bring a Gas Mask with you, though, as you’ll need to equip one if you want to navigate the area safely. Once you’ve tracked down the BURG.L chip, you’ll now be able to purchase the Advanced Production Buildings upgrade for 4,000 Raw Science.

Grounded: How to Craft a Grinder

Additionally, you’ll also be required to build a Pet House to keep your wee pal happy. To do so, you’ll need the following items:

2 x Weed Stems
1 x Acorn Shells
4 x Mushroom Bricks
2 x Crow Feather Pieces

Once you’ve built a new Pet House and crafted a Grinder, you’ll now be able to tame Aphids, Gnats, and Weevils, though you’ll need specific ingredients to do so.

Aphids require Plant Slurry — crafted by placing Plant Fibre in a Grinder.
Gnats require Spoiled Meat Slurry — crafted by putting Spoiled Meat into the Grinder.
Weevils require Mushroom Slurry — crafted by placing Mushrooms into a Grinder.

Feeding the insect in question with a few bowls of Slurry will make them tame, and they’ll then become your very own companion.

What Can Pets Do in Grounded?

All of the pets offer 10 extra inventory slots so that you use them as a pack mule to carry your items. But what’s really cool is that each companion boasts their own buffs as well:

Aphids offer an Aphid Friend Buff, which reduces your Stamina drain rate when you’re sprinting.
Gnats allow players to glide even further using Dandelion tufts.
Weevils help reduce your thirst drain rate.

While you can have multiple pets in Grounded, it’s important to note that only one can give you its special buff at a time.

And with that, we conclude our guide on how to tame pets in Grounded. For more, here’s how to get Gnat Fuzz and our picks for the best base locations in the game.