A Beginner’s Guide to Caring for Birthday Petpets

     What’s a Petpetsitter? A Petpetsitter is a babysitter for Petpets. Have you ever needed to leave your little ones behind for a last-minute business trip to Virtupets? Or, are you looking to take a well-deserved and relaxing vacation to the beaches of Mystery Island? Whatever the reason, we Petpetsitters are on call and happy to help take care of your bundles of joy whenever you’re in need.

     In all my years of Petpetsitting, I have experienced it all. *chuckles* Kadoaties getting stuck in trees and Drackonacks getting sick from stealing too much cheese from the pantry. I would be lying if I said that it never gets hectic around here, but, eventually, you learn to manage. At the end of the day, seeing the smiles on all of their adorable faces just warms my heart and makes all the trouble worth it.

     As Neopia’s 26th Birthday draws near, I often see a surge of clients needing assistance with their Birthday Petpets. In many ways, Birthday Petpets are just like any other Petpet—they brim with energy, love to play, and have a knack for creating messes. However, they also come with a few special quirks and needs of their own.

     Here, take this! I get so many questions about Birthday Petpet care that I've put together a little pamphlet with my top tips for some of the most popular species you’ll encounter as a Petpetsitter. I hope you find it useful!

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     Birthday Warf

     Warfs are some of my favorite petpets in all of Neopia. They’re cute, plump, and irresistibly soft. The Birthday Wharf, with its scrumptious cupcake-like appearance, dials up the charm by at least tenfold!

     One reason Warfs stay so delightfully round (and cuddly) all year long is because they love to eat—and they eat a lot! A Warf pretty much needs to munch on something throughout the day, or else it’s bound to throw a tantrum (and trust me, you do not want that). Typically, Warfs are herbivores, but Birthday Warfs thrive on a sugary diet. Yes, sugar! That’s how they stay so sweet. I suggest leaving bowls of sugar around the house for your little one to graze on at their leisure throughout the day. In my experience, brown sugar is their favorite, though regular granulated sugar will surely do if you’re in a pinch.

     Birthday Babaa

     One Babaa. Two Babaa. Three Babaa. *yawn* Four Babaa... Needless to say, if you find yourself tending to a flock of Babaa, you should never count them, or before you know it, you’ll fall fast asleep. That is common knowledge.

     What most Neopians don’t realize about Babaas, even Birthday Babaas, is that they startle easily. The sudden drop of a hat can cause a Babaa to scatter, usually retreating underneath the bed. Once a Babaa scurries underneath the bed, it can be next to impossible to lure them out—even with the tastiest of treats.

     Whenever a Babaa comes into my care, I make sure to create a calm and soothing atmosphere so as to hopefully minimize the risk of it getting startled. Warm lighting, ambient music, and my trusty essential oil diffuser usually do the trick. For Birthday Babaas, in particular, I suggest wrapping them in a warm and cozy weighted blanket—it reminds them of the oven they were originally baked in! Most importantly, I keep the Babaa far away from any energetic, restless, and playful petpets that will likely cause a disturbance.

     What happens if your Babaa does happen to get spooked? Don’t fear! There is one way to lure them out from underneath the bed, and that’s with their favourite treat: fresh-picked Loveberries from Meri Acres Farm.

     Birthday Noil

     Now let’s move on from the frightful to the frisky. A Petpet whose energy knows no bounds is the Noil—and the Birthday Noil is no different! These cakey and frosty companions will (quite literally) bounce off the walls. Once, I watched a particularly energetic Noil scale my ceiling during a game of tag. Luckily, my hands were empty, so I was able to scoop him up when he fell, but oh geez, did I almost have a heart attack!

     In order to somewhat tame a Noil’s energy, here are my recommendations. First, make sure to avoid feeding a Noil, even a Birthday Noil, anything rich in sugar (i.e., the opposite of my recommendation for Brithday Warfs). Fruit, berries, and, of course, candy, are a no-go. Otherwise, the springy little Petpet will be chasing its tail all night. Second, find a gated enclosure and let your Noil run free! There is no better way to tire a lively Petpet out than by letting it zoom itself to exhaustion. If your Birthday Noil has another Noil companion (even a Gruselen will do), it gets even better because they’ll tire in half the time!

     Birthday Kadoatie

     While the Noil’s energy knows no bounds, the Kadoatie is one of the laziest Petpets in Neopia. The average Kadoatie sleeps for almost twelve hours a day—and the Birthday Kadoatie sleeps almost twenty (yes, twenty!). While it may sound easy taking care of a sleeping Petpet, I must warn you: there is nothing more destructive than a cranky Kadoatie.

     When a Kadoatie doesn’t get enough sleep, it lets out its frustration by clawing on furniture, ripping up pillows, and, worst of all, endlessly wailing at an ear-splitting pitch. A Birthday Kadoatie does all of those things, but also leaves crumbs and frosting E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. This is why I make sure to visit the Lunar Temple in Shenkuu almost daily, because, for an elite Petpetsitter like me, you can never have enough of those comfy Blue Moon Petpet Beds.

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     And there you have it! Although they can be messy, caring for Birthday Petpets sure does take the cake. With Neopia’s birthday around the corner, there’s no better time than to pay a visit to the Neopian Bakery and adopt one of these frosty bundles of joy (fresh from the oven!)