Adoption

Adoption is the process in which a preexisting Neopet (as opposed to one made through Create a Neopet) is added to a user's account. There are two types of adoption. As a built-in site feature, Neopets who have been abandoned at the Neopian Pound can be adopted for a fee. Alternatively, users can choose to adopt Neopets from other users, foster parents, who advertise their Neopets as up for adoption. The latter method is an unofficial form of adoption which has been tentatively allowed by The Neopets Team.

Adoption through the Pound

The Neopian Pound can be found in the menu bar under Pet Central or on the Neopian Plaza map. The pink, leftmost door labeled "Adopt" leads to the adoption page. Three pets will appear at a time. Users must select the pet they wish to adopt, and a fee will be deducted from their on-hand neopoints. The exact price is determined by its characteristics (color, statistics, etc.).

Pets that are above level 2, are limited-edition species, or that have been painted with certain rare or expensive paintbrushes, cannot be adopted by any account younger than four months.

Adoption through adoption agencies

Adoption agencies can be run be one person or a group of people. These agencies house pets adopted from the pound or former permanent pets that are zapped in the lab and then adopted out to other users. The "foster parent" usually goes through an application period next where people send in applications for said pet. Some adoption agencies have guilds to help find support and advertise pets together. Some directories offer lists of agencies to help people find the right pet for them.

Types of Applications

Most foster parents request an application to help them know more about the applicant and how qualified he or she is. Some foster parents ask applicants to take a special pledge. Most require them to answer questions that involve their plans for the pet in the near future, character ideas, and whether or not they have been frozen before.

Neomail

Neomail applications are usually anywhere from 1-3 mail lengths long. They answer all the questions the foster parent asks briefly. Most foster parents specify that they prefer neomail applications, as they are short, sweet, and to the point.

Petpage

Petpage applications are more on the visual side of applying. People can showcase their coding, artwork, or writing with these. People also have no character limit, so they can explain more fully what their plans are. Usually petpage applications are set up like a normal petpage, as if the foster pet actually owned it, so that later, the owner can just make a few changes and keep it as the pet's page.

The legality of petpage applications has been at times questioned, so TNT's rules state that you must put a disclaimer that you were not forced to make an application for a pet buy their owner.

Quick Adoption Applications

"Quick Adoptions" are adoptions that are not as in-depth in the process of choosing an owner. In most situations the owner wants to move the pet to a new home quickly, so they ask for short one-to-two paragraph applications.