Great Pets without Great Cost

The answer is yes – via two useful features on the site – the pound and the pound chat board.

There are several ways to get really good pets through the pound and pound chat:

Pound surfing

Pound surfing refers to the act of continuously searching through the pound, looking for something good This might be a great name, painted, battledome stats or anything else that is a desirable feature. Pound surfing can be done solo but to increase your chances of finding a pet, why not use the pound chat to help?

Somewhere on the pound chat there is always a board titled 'Pound surf' or something similar (look out for pound skiing as well – it is the same thing). These are popular boards so if one isn't visible straight away, just refresh the first page a few times. One should soon appear. And if there isn't a pound surf board, why not start one? It will soon have loads of people on it.

There are a number of terms used on these boards that can be confusing at first so I will explain some of the common ones:

Surfers

People who search the pound and post pets that they find

Lurkers

People who hang around watching the boards for pets but don't post anything

Impulse

Refers to the act of adopting a pet from the pound without really thinking eg when a painted pet appears

Dry

If someone says the pound is dry it means there are no good pets in the pound and that there hasn't been for a little while.

Wet

If someone says the pound is wet, it means that great pets are turning up in the pound in reasonable quantities.

PR

PR stands for pound release. This is a time when TNT releases pets into the pound. There are many great guides on pound release, so I will not cover it in more great detail here.

Ok, so now onto what you can expect to see. At busy times, the pound surf boards can be full of life and posts can be added quicker that you can read. This is a good thing – it means the pound is wet. People post pets they find, usually in the format:

Pet_name_here

Colour

Species

Gender

Level

Anyway, there are some variations on this but they are all very similar. Once the ideal pet is posted, copy their name and paste it into the search box in the pound to find the pet. Painted pets go fast, so sometimes someone else will have beaten you to the pet. This is all part of pound surfing but other times the pet is still waiting for you to adopt it. Perfect.

Ok, what about posting some pets? You can even do this on a young account. There are plenty of people who are looking for pets with a good name and aren't worried about species or colour, so post away. If you find a painted or limited edition, post that as well.

Lurking on boards is fine as well. It frustrates some surfers but there is nothing that can be done since on most pound surf boards, the lurkers outnumber the surfers any way. Learn to love the lurkers.

A couple of points to consider if you are going to try pound surfing:

At certain times of the day, the Neopets site is very busy and the pound is full people all looking for a pet. If you have a slow connection, it is best to avoid these times. But if your connection is up to it, then these are also the times when the most pets are pounded.

Make sure you have neopoints out of your bank. Pets go to the people who are ready to click as soon as the perfect pet appears.

If someone beats you to a pet, congratulate them, don't hassle them for it or winge or moan on the boards. There are still loads of great pets that need a home.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Surfers are generally a helpful bunch, often doing it just to help other people find pets.

Impulsing pets is normal but to avoid wasting neopoints, try setting yourself a goal eg a well named (WN) Lupe.

If you successfully adopt a pet posted by someone, just post a thank you on the board.

At this point, I feel it would be appropriate to prove that good pets do turn up whilst surfing. The following are images of pets found during a one hour pound surf.

These five lovely pets were all found during a fairly quiet period for the pound. I have seen more sought after pets at other times.

Stuck pets

Stuck pets refers to pets that can't be found by clicking on the search in the pound. But these are pets that are in the pound. Dedicated stuck pet boards are less common than pound surf boards but they do appear at busy times. Sometimes it is the same board as a pound surf board, other times it is a separate board.

There are people who specifically search for stuck pets and post whatever they find. Some very rare pets can be found this way. Searching for stuck pets requires a lot of time and patience and again there are many great guides already available to do this so I will not cover it here.

To access a stuck pet, just copy and paste their name into the search and because it goes directly to the pet it now has no problem finding them. Adopting them is then exactly the same as adopting a non stuck pet. Except generally these pets are around for longer so it can be done on slower connections or at busy times of day.

A couple of points to consider if you are going to try adopting a stuck pet:

Though the people doing the searching will often take requests, don't hassle them to look for a certain species or colour. Searching stuck pets can often mean going through large quantities of results on a search engine and does take time.

If you do make a request, try to be realistic. Finding Krawks or Draiks is very unlikely.

As with pound surfing, if you adopt a pet, please say thank you. That is all people want.

Don't repost stuck pets on a pound surf board or pretend they are your own find.

UFQA (or Up For Quick Adoption)

So lets take a look back at the other posts on the pound chat board. It is mostly people trading pets or advertising adoption agencies. Whilst these are all great, they can be hard work. Adopting a pet means someone gifts you their pet either through the pound or via the transfer system.

Like with pound surfing, there are a number of common terms:

UFA

UFA means 'up for adoption'. Normally, if a pet is listed as UFA, it will require an application to made to adopt the pet. There are generally a set of rules to follow regarding the application and it is up to the owner to decide what they are looking for. UFA pets generally have a deadline at some point in the future.

UFQA

Not to be confused with UFA, UFQA means 'up for quick adoption'. No long applications or far off deadlines are in use here.

WN, DN and BN

Quite simply, these mean (in order) well named, decently named and badly named. A 'V' before these abbreviations means very. This is a reference to the name of the pet but remember pet names are subjective so one person might love the name whilst another hates it.

I'm going to specifically look at the idea of UFQA because it is easier to get great pets. These boards don't appear as regularly appear as pound surf boards. Look for boards titled '****** UFQA' or '******** going to the pound'. Often they will have the icon for the species in the title but not always.

If the pet is UFQA, just take a read through the owner's post. It could be as simple as saying you are interested in the pet or they may want a short application. Short application is the key here. Don't send pages of text. It won't get read. One or two sentences saying why you would like the pet are perfect. Then hang around on the board and check your neomails for a response. People advertising UFQA pets, just want the pet to be looked after, they aren't looking for the person who can (possibly) create the best story for them.

Remember to have open transfers before you apply for an UFQA pet, the owner often adopts out that day or the following day.

There is another form of UFQA, and that is posting what time the pet is going to the pound. This is done in one of two ways. The first way is to publicly post the time on the boards so everyone has a chance to get the pet. The second way is for the owner to neomail a few people and tell them the time. Either way, once you know the time, copy the pets name into the search box in the pound and start refreshing it constantly in the couple of minutes before the pounding time and for about a minute after. These pets go quicker than pets during a pound surf because there is often a big build up to get plenty of people interested. This method of UFQA is not recommended for people on slow computers.

Gifting pets

If there is a specific pet you really want why not take a look through the pound chat for a gifting board. There are normally a couple of these around and they generate a lot of interest. People on here have pets they want to adopt out to someone who really wants that species and colour combination. But they won't post what it is because everyone just asks for it. There is normally a limit on the number of pets you are allowed to request so have a good think about it first. Some points to consider if you are going to post on a gifting board:

Don't post Draiks or Krawks. They are unlikely to be gifted in this manner.

Post something you want but it doesn't need to be an all time dream pet. Choosing realistic choices increases the changes of receiving the pet.

Follow the rules stated at the beginning of the board.

If it is a guessing board (virtually the same) then take a look at the previous guesses and post something different.

Overall this is probably a less successful method of getting great pets compared to the previous methods but it is always worth trying these boards.

So in conclusion, my last pieces of advice to getting those great pets:

A WN, painted pet is quite rare to find during a pound surf. If names are really important to you, try the UFQA method.

Be polite to other surfers and people adopting out their pets. If you are rude, you won't get the pet.

If in doubt, impulse first, then decide whether you want to keep the pet afterwards.

Hesitation = missed pet.

If you don't understand, ask. Someone will always help.

The pound chat moves very quickly, so don't be afraid of boards with a large number of posts.

Tend to your own pets first. If you are applying for an UFQA pet or on a gifting board and your pets look sad, you won't get the pet.

It always helps if people can see you are an active player. This is more important on accounts under a year old.

If you have a pet you no longer want, consider gifting it to another player. Remember how happy you were when you got a pet like this? Make someone else's day!

And lastly, practise, practise and more practise.