Add Another to your Family!

That got me thinking- what would it be like if I had four Neopets right now? Would I be able to handle the extra little Neopet, another mouth to feed and another to spend my hard-earned Neopoints on?

So, thinking about adding another Neopet to your family, even if you only have one or two Neopets already? Think you’re too poor, or don’t have the patience to have and take care of another Neopet? Well, read the following tips I’ve put together- it’s really not so hard to add another to your family after all!

1. Breaking the News

You’re going to add another Neopet, congrats! Well, the first thing you need to do is break the news to your first Neopet. It can be difficult to get a new brother or sister, especially if your Neopet is the only one in your family and hasn’t experienced this before. If you only have one, break the news to them gently- a simple “You’re going to be getting a new brother or sister!” should do the trick. Try to seem as excited about it as possible, but make sure they know that they’ll still be treated the same and you’ll still have time for them. Also, a good idea is having them suggest what type of pet they’d like it to be- if they absolutely wouldn’t get along with a Kougra, please, for the sake of your Neopet don’t get a Kougra. If you’ve got more than one Neopet already, this should be easier- when I told Mizeiy and Jadeziai the red Usul that I was going to adopt Afinetey, an Aisha, and paint her baby, Jadeziai didn’t really care (she just said, “Okay,” and walked off) and Mizeiy shrugged and stated that she should get a present because of this. (Don’t ask why- I don’t understand Mizeiy either.)

2. Feeding an Extra Mouth

Feeding one more pet can be a big deal, especially if you have four or if you don’t have many Neopoints to spare. But it’s not really as hard as it seems.

At first, for me, it was difficult to be buying food for three. Then I noticed how much free food they give away- there’s the Giant Omelette, where you can get one omelette per day (that’s good enough for three whole servings of food!) and of course the Soup Kitchen. You can only visit the Soup Kitchen if you have less then 3000 Neopoints, though, but it is an unlimited amount of food!! You can find really cheap food in user shops, or by the Shop Wizard. It’s not always delicious, but it’s good enough to eat most of the time. As well as that, sometimes there are special activities where you can feed each of your pets once a day! Most Neopets, if you always fill them up to ‘not hungry’, need to be fed about twice a day. Oh yeah, and one more thing- your Neopets might not like it if you don’t feed them basically the same things. I fed Jadeziai a Raspberry Milkshake right before I gave Mizeiy some Toenail Soup (Sorry, Miz, I was lower on Neopoints than I thought!) and Mizeiy has never let me forget it. She didn’t let Jade forget it either- making sure that next time she got herself something yummier than Jadeziai had.

3. It’s All About Equality

Basically, what I’m saying in this section is that you can’t give one of your pets the luxurious toys, glamorous beauty products and amazing food- you’ve got to split everything equally. I find that my three Neopets are very, very picky about this- they make sure that I spend an equal amount of Neopoints on all of them. *sigh*

For clothing- Give each one a background, or none at all. Most Neopets will be happy with any kind of background, no matter how cheap it is. They’re just proud to have a background at all! Or, if you give one Neopet a background, give the other a hat or a pair of shoes. It’s as simple as that! You don’t want one Neopet to be all dressed up while the others have nothing, do you? I certainly made that mistake when I first got Afinetey- I was so excited that I had a baby Aisha that I went out and bought her a nice pretty background. Mizeiy and Jadeziai complained and complained, so finally I had enough sense to go out and buy them some cool backgrounds and clothes for themselves!

For toys- Your Neopets will most likely be very different ages- and will be interested in different types of toys. Jadeziai doesn’t really seem interested in plushies and keyrings- she’s more into grooming products, considering her age. Mizeiy loves keyrings and books, on the other hand. And Afinetey is the baby, so she loves her plushies! What I do is, when I go out shopping, if I buy something for one Neopet, I buy a little gift for everyone! That way, everyone is happy, occupied with their new toy, and it’s all equal.

For petpets- There might be a period of time in which one or two of your Neopets has got a petpet to play with, and the other doesn’t. Make sure that they all eventually get some kind of petpet (or don’t get any of them one at all). During this time, assure your left-out Neopet or Neopets that they will eventually get a Petpet of their very own- you’re just working on saving up Neopoints. Mizeiy just wouldn’t let the matter drop when I got Jadeziai her Petpet- until I promised Mizeiy that she, of course, would get a Petpet too! (I did have to cross my heart and hope to die before she believed me, though.)

For Paintbrushes- This can be a little tricky- most Neopians don’t save up enough Neopoints in a good amount of time to buy two Paintbrushes in a row. I painted Mizeiy Checkered, and I even painted Afinetey before I painted Jadeziai. If your Neopet is well-behaved about this, then it may motivate you to play more games and make more Neopoints- after all, a well behaved Neopet deserved a Paintbrush more than a misbehaving one!

4. Take a Little One-on-One Time

Most importantly, it’s a really fantastic idea to spend a little time with each of your Neopets, INDIVIDUALLY. Leave the others with a babysitter, or if you have an older Neopet, let them babysit your younger ones. Maybe take each of your Neopets, at least every week, to some place they enjoy and can have fun with just you. I like taking Jadeziai to the Coffee Shop in the Art Center- she really likes it there. (“It’s so... warm! And... warm! And it smells friendly!”) Mizeiy asks to go to other lands all the time- so far we’ve visited Faerieland and Mystery Island together. Afinetey is simple- she just likes going to the Plushie Shop and looking at all of the plushies they have for sale. So next time you’ve got free time, take your Neopet somewhere- it can actually make a big difference.

Well, that’s the end to this guide. Adopting or creating another Neopet to add can take a lot of thought- but you can handle it, I promise!