Grooming Station

The Grooming Station is a ranching building used to care for critters in a Stable. When a Duplicant with Critter Ranching I uses it, they summon a valid adult critter to the station and groom it. A groomed critter becomes happy, healthy, and productive, and receives the Groomed buff, which lasts longer when the Duplicant has a higher ranching skill.

To be groomed, the critter must be tame or tameable, adult, and not already have the Groomed buff. Pacu, Radiation Squid, and Morbs cannot be groomed. The critter also needs a path to the appropriate tile beside the station: for non-flying critters, the lower-right tile must be reachable; for flying critters, the middle-right tile must be reachable. Gassy Moos have a special footprint requirement and need extra open space on either side of the Grooming Station so their pathing can satisfy the grooming check.

The station itself must be placed inside a Stable, and only Duplicants trained in Critter Ranching I can operate it. A Duplicant must also be able to reach the lower-left tile of the station. During grooming, the Duplicant animates as if washing the critter, and different critters have their own reaction animations. If multiple critters in the Stable need grooming, one additional critter waits near the station so the next task can begin smoothly.

Grooming is important for maintaining ranch productivity. Untended tame critters gain the Glum debuff, which reduces metabolism by 80% and makes them unhappy, lowering reproduction rate. Grooming restores the critter’s health to full and increases happiness, improving the overall output of a ranch.

• Grooming is not affected by the Well-Lit bonus.
• The Grooming Station is a Stable-only ranching building.
• Critters being groomed must be reachable by the station’s required pathing tile.
• Gassy Moos require extra lateral space for grooming pathing.
• Critters that are not groomed become Glum over time, reducing ranch efficiency.