As recent studies have shown, Headcrabs are born from a large organism we call the Gonarch, situated in the border world Xen.
Her lair, although a great place to find your Headcrab, is very hostile even to other organisms living in Xen, only a few survey teams have made it back. Getting there and back is a messy job and there's plenty of other places to find a Headcrab so going there doesn't make much sense anyways.

Here is a rough depiction of what our survey teams recorded Gonarch to look like:


Picture of the Lair:



So, where should you find your Headcrab then? They prefer areas that they can ambush you, little nooks and crannies.
Some good examples are vents, behind furniture, in your closet, etc. If you're lucky enough to venture to Xen, they can be found commonly roaming waiting for a host to come by.

Here's footage of a survey team member encountering one in a ventilation system:

Taming
Before attempting to handle a Headcrab, you should get them debeaked.
In my last version of this guide, I didn't have the best way of debeaking a Headcrab, and caused many casualties in the process which is why I shouldn't repos so I've come up with a new method.

You're going to need a couple of things, starting with one of those self shutting cages and a few of our products:
-Xenian Pheromone Canister™
-Black Mesa Disposable Beak Remover™

Place the cage near where you found the Headcrab and place a tablespoon of the Pheromone on the closing plate, shut any doors, and leave the room for 30 minutes.
If successful, the Headcrab should be in a sleepy/groggy state, this will allow you to insert the beak removal tool into the "mouth" of the Headcrab. It should at most take a minute to complete the process, you will know when it is complete when the green blinker light turns on.
You may dispose of the detachable container with a biohazard symbol once complete.

If you prefer not to deal with this process and just want a Headcrab, you can adopt one from us.

Handling

After self debeaking, or just adopting a Headcrab from us, it's best to give the Headcrab some space before trying to handle them.
To handle a Headcrab it's best to support their feet when carrying or let them cling to you. Here is a member showing an example of how to and how not to handle a Headcrab:

Headcrabs need a fair amount of food and nutrients. They are omnivorous, meaning they eat pretty much anything. A test showed that most headcrabs prefer fruits over vegetables and don't have a preference when it comes to meat. Don't give them anything else to drink besides water and feed them twice a day.

My Headcrab loves to snack on cantaloupe:

They don't really need much for a habitat, a bed, designated food area and a carrier will do just fine. Caring for them is similar to caring for a cat.

Keep them out of areas you don't want them like areas with fragile objects since they will want to climb there and they are pretty clumsy sometimes.

They like to have areas to hide so it's recommended you place their bed somewhere that is dark and quiet.

This is a functioning but not safe method to attempting to tame a genetically modified Headcrab. It is recommended that you call the Xenian control service to get them removed. I was going to modify the section but I'll leave it as is:

Surprisingly there aren't just normal Headcrabs, but they also have a genetically modified form which can still work as pets!

How did they become like this?
Easy, after the Combines rule on earth came, they took advantage of what was already here and genetically modified Headcrabs.

What types are there?

Well, the title says what types. Poision and Fast, Poison Headcrabs are notably the most dangerous of the group but they are easier to keep as pets if you follow the right safety precautions. The Fast Headcrabs are easier to tame but they still have their natural speed.

Poison Headcrab:


Fast Headcrab:


How do I tame one?
Taming them isn't too difficult if you know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing please consult with one of our Black Mesa biological research scientists.

Let's start with Fast Headcrabs. In order to tame a Fast Headcrab you do basically the same thing as you would to tame a regular Headcrab, you just need a good way to wrangle them so they don't get away. If you're having a hard time wrangling these little buggers you can buy our
BMBR (Black Mesa Biological Research) SLEEPING INJECT TM, and just inject the crab with it and it should fall asleep so you can debeak it. If you're having a hard time getting your hands on this product you could try administering multiple shots of melatonin, although more difficult, it still works.
If you're too broke to afford any of these, well I wish you best of luck and maybe you could try getting a normal Headcrab next time.

For Poison Headcrabs we recommend wearing something to protect you from the neurotoxin they inject or you could inject yourself with antidote so the bite has no effect. What makes Poison Headcrabs so interesting is that they don't actually have a beak! Instead they have fangs that inject living organisms with neurotoxin and once they are weak enough they will take over their brain. In order to remove the fangs you'll need to use something sharp like a knife. Once you've cut off the fangs they will be safe to keep as a pet.

How do I feed them?

Easy! It's as simple as feeding them as if they were a normal Headcrab.
But you need to remember one thing about Fast Headcrabs, never, and I mean NEVER feed them anything with lots of caffeine or sugar. Otherwise, they will get very hyper and start running everywhere causing destruction.

Caring for creatures Steam group: Feel free to join!

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