Treat Your Pets: A Guide!

I remember as a young Neopian, I often would let my pets go for days or weeks without playing with or feeding them. Back then, they were only pixels on a screen! I didn't mind if they got upset with me, even though I ran the risk of losing valuable colors due to the fact they were so sad. On top of all that, I got to stare at sad little pets whenever I played, which was no fun!

Now that I'm an Old Neopian, I've learned a lot about taking care of my pet! Here are some basic things to do to "Treat Your Pet'!

Make sure their needs are met:

This goes without saying, but make sure that your pets are full and happy! This means feeding them enough to make sure they are not hungry, and playing with them! If you don't have enough money for food, the Soup Faerie is always willing to help Neopians in need. Hide and Seek is a great way to earn neopoints AND play with your pets! If you can't trust yourself to sign on enough to take care of your pets, you can, fortunately, check them into the NeoLodge for up to 28 days!

Improve your pets Smarts & Stats:

Reading to your pet is an excellent way to Treat Your Pets! A pet can only be as intelligent as the number of books they read, so make sure to pick up some books and get to reading. Pets can only read the same book once, so use this as an opportunity to treat all of your pets. I try reading new books to my oldest pet first and go down the line if she has already read it.

Aside from smarts, you can also help your pet train! Taking your pet to The Academy on Krawk Island or the Training School on Mystery Island is a great opportunity to use dubloons and codestones to help your pet train up their stats. Don't forget to train up a pet's level as well as its strength, defense, and oher stats, as your pets level determines the cap you can reach in other areas.

Give them a Petpet:

I am of the belief that all pets deserve petpets! I LOVE my pets, and I want them to have a pet they love, too! Petpets are relatively cheap and easy to come by, so stop by the Trading Post or Shop Wizard to pick up one for your pet today. An extra step might be even matching your pet and petpet's color scheme or theme. For example, if you had a zombie pet, their petpet might be more creepy, or even a ghost! This is a chance for you to get creative. Visit the Rainbow Pool if you need ideas.

Work on their Pet Page:

A Pet's Petpage is their own homepage, and you can do whatever you'd like with it! You can either host a page for your pet, or host your own page (I'm sure your pet won't mind!) With this space, you can create a backstory for your pet, share fanart, practice coding, and much more. Your pet will be happy to have their pet page in use! For help coding, Neopets has an HTML guide that will help you with the basics. You can also ask around Neopia for premade layouts and templates for your petpages. This might help to take the stress of newer coders to make their perfect pet pages, and you can learn a lot from others!

Customize them:

Customization isn't for everyone, but don't you think your pet will look nice in a spiffy new outfit? Customization can be a fun way to express your pet's personality. Even giving your pet a background or hat can be enough to change your pet from boring to BEAUTIFUL! Of course, always make sure your pet loves their new clothes, You can't just throw anything on your pet, and keeping their personality in mind is key!

Feature them:

Featuring your pet on your account is a pretty big deal, but can definitely show others (and your pet) that you care! You can do this in as many ways as you can come up with. Making a user lookup based around your pet, starting a gallery with your pet as a theme, or putting graphics of your pet around your account are all ways to feature them. You can even feature your pet outside of Neopets by using site made buttons and banners. That way you can make sure all of your friends know about your spoiled- I mean...excellent pet!

Enter them into a Contest:

The Beauty Contest, Pet Spotlight, and more exist to showcase your amazing pets! Once you've given your pet an amazing design and personality, you can enter them into these contests and win some spiffy trophies for them! When my poogle won the Pet Spotlight, she was thrilled, and it gave me even more inspiration to help my pets stand out from the crowd. The beauty contest is great for the artists out there, while the pet spotlight might be better if you are more into creating stories for your pets!

Finally, LOVE THEM:

The final step is to just love your pets. Even if you don't have the money for expensive customizations, petpets, or paint brushes, all your pet really needs is love! Spending a little time with your pets every day will make sure they are happy and well-taken care of. I assure you if you spend time with your pet, you will grow closer to them. Soon enough your pet's personality will emerge, and you will find yourself with a lifetime friend! I have grown older with my Neopets and love their companionship every day.

So remember, while you're playing games and restocking, to put a focus on your pets in all that you do. Neopia is a place for pets, after all!