Puddle Slime

Puddle Slimes are aquatic Slimes that can spawn in shallow pools of water. On The Ranch, they require a specific habitat to survive, but can also thrive in the natural pond at The Docks.

Because of their similarities, they are often considered to be a counterpart to the Fire Slime.

Slimepedia Entry
Slimeology:

''Puddle slimes are a rare species of slime that live in freshwater pools found on the range. These slimes don't eat fruits, veggies, or meat like most other slimes. Instead, puddle slimes absorb water into their bodies while they sit on the surface of a pool.''

Puddle slimes need fresh water to survive and will quickly evaporate if left on any other surface for too long.

Rancher Risks:

''Puddle slimes aren't risky to manage, they just require a fair bit of maintenance. A rancher needs a pool of fresh water, like a pond, available for a puddle slime to sit in as they will evaporate if away from water. Additionally, puddle plorts burst as soon as they touch anything but fresh water.''

Finally, puddle slimes are exceptionally shy and will not produce plorts if they are in close proximity to more than 3 other slimes.

Overall, a puddle slime is a better fit for a more experienced rancher, not one still wet behind the ears.

Plortonomics:

''Puddle plorts are made almost entirely from an incredible hydro compound known by chemists across the galaxy as H2Ohhhhh. This compound is used to create an absurdly expensive brand of bottled drinking water that is sought after by the elite back on Earth. While some people argue that there is little difference in taste between it and tap water, those people seriously are not getting it.''

Tips

 * Puddle Slimes are low maintenance and Ponds are a one-time investment with no upgrades, which makes Puddle Slimes are a decent, low effort source of income.
 * This means that Ponds cannot be upgraded to utilize a Plort Collector, so must be harvested manually. It may be worth having two vac spaces free to suck up the Slimes as well as the Plorts before returning the Slimes to the Pond once all the Plorts are obtained.
 * A maximum of four Puddle Slimes can be kept in a single Pond; this is increased to 5 if you put a Rubber Duck in the Pond. If there are too many Puddle Slimes in a certain area they blush, signifying they will not produce Plorts.
 * Contrary to opinion, the natural pond in The Docks does not render Ponds redundant; the Plort production limit on Puddle Slimes still applies so it is still recommended to buy Ponds to increase Plort production.
 * Puddle Slimes produce 1 Puddle Plort every 6 in-game hours.

Changes

 * 0.6.0 - Puddle Plorts no longer splash on contact with dry land and despawn after some time like regular Plorts.
 * 0.5.1c - Puddle Plorts no longer pop on contact with Slime Toys; in particular the Rubber Ducky.
 * 0.4.2 - Puddle Slimes are now less likely to hang out in the corners of Ponds, and dehydration logic changes so they will no longer despawn when in contact with other Slimes while in water.
 * 0.3.7 - Puddle slimes will now dramatically reduce their plort production when 8 Puddle Plorts are nearby.
 * 0.3.4 - Puddle slimes now blush when they become too shy to make plorts.
 * 0.3.0c - Fix bug where Puddle Slimes on Low Model Quality did not have eyes.
 * 0.3.0b - Fix issue with puddle slime pathfinding.
 * 0.3.0 - Puddle Slimes receive a complete overhaul that adds behaviors to reflect their shy nature; including ceasing Plort production they are in close proximity to 3 other Slimes.
 * 0.2.5 - Their Plorts no longer splash when sent into the Plort Market.
 * 0.2.4 - Their plorts have a splash effect now after disappearing.
 * 0.2.0 - Puddle slime are added; they use a placeholder model heavily resembling a blue Pink Slime.