

Niptors: One of Neopia's Under Appreciated Petpets

by dustinismine


When Neopians consider buying a new friend for their neopet, they usually immediately remember the ones they've seen and adore in games (like that polarchuck you remember from Snowmuncher, or maybe that yooyu you seen during the Altador Cup), or super rare ones you have to pay an arm and a leg for (meowclopses, snowbunnies or krawks). There are many petpets that go underappreciated, forgotten, or hardly known about despite the items, or even an avatar they're in. One in particular is the Niptor.

Niptors, in the opinion of myself and Kappinia, are undeniably cute. This Tyrannian petpet is the theme of nine different items, has its own TCG, and even an avatar! The items dedicated to Niptors are the Niptor bed, Niptor sofa, Niptor lamp, Niptor painting, a wind up fire Niptor, a Niptor in a box, a Niptor pull-along, and a Niptor plushie. After getting said avatar checked off of the list of Neopians' obtained avatars, however, the poor little Niptors are likely just forgotten about (not by everyone, of course!)

Unlike high-end petpets, Niptors are overall low-maintenance. ...Okay, somewhat. They just tend to bite nearly everything they see, especially in their younger years, so be sure to give them indestructible chew toys or something. Despite that trait, they're rather fun to have around. They're quite playful and curious, and this often ends up getting them in to funny situations. For instance, finding out what a chokato tastes like. The facial expression they make is just not describable.

For those of you interested, Niptors come in twelve different colours including the 'unpainted' one. The other eleven are red, green, Christmas, electric, fire, faerie, mutant, pink, island, and snow. If you get a Niptor and decide to paint it faerie, do so with great caution. When you give a Niptor wings, it can go to whole new heights to bite things or make a mess, and take its curiosity to a whole new level. If you decide to paint it mutant, be aware that for whatever reason, its nature grows to be a bit more devious. It will not intend to hurt anyone it likes (note: 'likes'), just the same as any other Niptor. However, they may intentionally attempt creating a mess or pulling a prank on other petpets.

Faerie and mutant Niptors are really the only ones that are really the only ones that should be thought about to be sure you could handle it. As for the other colours, they only differ slightly, and are more like your everyday Niptor.

Christmas ones are almost always happy, but still hold the same curiosity and urges to bite anything that moves. Be sure you can also handle the near-constant jingling of the bells dangling around their necks. The only time it really stops is when they decide to sleep, considering they're always looking around or running after their own shadows.

Electric Niptors, for whatever reason, are very prone and capable of collecting a lot of static electricity, making it fairly simple for it to shock people. Or, perhaps, you could use that static to get that Neopia balloon to stick to your wall.

Painted like fire, they also gain a much higher temperature than usual. Don't worry, it's not a fever. Due to their now natural extreme warmth, your neopet can take its Niptor on a trip to Terror Mountain without worrying about whether or not the Niptor will end up freezing it's little tail off. Every step it takes will result in melting snow.

A disco Niptor will often get strange urges to dance its little heart out, especially if M*NCI or Yes Boy Ice Cream is in town! ..Well, by 'town' I mean the Tyrannian concert hall. Or if you play music around it, that gives them more urges too. Be sure to move things to give it enough space so it doesn't hurt itself or break anything!

Red Niptors tend to have a bit more of an attitude towards pretty much everything. For instance, if they chewed up their squeaky larnikin toy to the point of no return, leaving the 'squeaky' part to no longer work, it may try to bite it repeatedly to make it work, and without success in that, it will let out an angry but high-pitched Niptor roar at it. What do you expect? Niptors are only about one pound. It's going to be high-pitched. It may also pout and/or have a tantrum when told to eat its dinner, or that it's time for bed.

Green Niptors tend to get a lot of strange looks from other Tyrannian neopets and petpets, and a few "Ugg... Ugga?"'s here and there. This would be due to their strange and overwhelming desire to devour vegetables of any kind. The odd one may eat meat here and there, but almost all of them are vegetarian. This, of course, is very very odd if it is Tyrannian. The Quiggle at the Health Food store has banned any green Niptors from entering ever since the last... err... accident. But, that Quiggle and I had an agreement that we would never speak of that accident ever, ever again. ...*cough*.

A pink Niptor tends to be a lot more affectionate towards pretty much everything. Why, just recently I spotted one nuzzling a Miamouse! The poor thing was terrified for its life! The pink ones tend to chomp things a bit more gently, and if it does fully chomp something it will actually check to make sure it didn't hurt it, even if it is an inanimate object or a toy. Or food. It's cute, but definitely gets a little worrisome. Also, be careful not to hurt this one's feelings. It is quite sensitive.

A snow-painted Niptor. It's like a magical mini dinosaur shaped snowman! However, it's not the best if it's in an environment where it needs to defend itself. It no longer has it's sharp fangs or talons on its hands, but it does have sharp carrots on its toes and the tip of its tail. Its the only means of self defence for it, so if it needs that, be sure to take the vegetable peeler to them once in a while to sharpen them for it. Don't worry, because of how it's painted, the carrots grow back just like regular claws. Also, be aware of its aversion to sunlight. Too much will hurt it, and make it feel a little... watered down.

Finally, the island Niptor. First and foremost, obtain tropical foods, because this Niptor is going to get a crazy tropical craving like no other. It will also likely want to go on a lot of Tiki Tours. If you do decide to bring it on one of those, and I can not stress this enough, RESTRAIN it. Holding its collar, using a short leash, ANYTHING. Or that poor coconut JubJub will end up as that Niptors coconut cocktail. When I said crazy tropical craving, I wasn't exaggerating. If the craving strikes, the Niptor will strike. From above. Onto the poor, unsuspecting JubJub, happily enjoying its every day routine of a career.

If you do decide to get a Niptor, or already have one and wondering how in the underground land of Moltara to take care of it, you're reading the right section of this article. It's not very difficult, there's just a few things you need to remember, and it may also depend on which type of Niptor you have.

Feeding: Caution is required when feeding a Niptor. Be sure to leave lots of room for it to grab the food from you so it does not unintentionally bite you. They don't exactly calculate where their teeth will hit. Most of the time they will desire meet, but do occasionally give it the odd vegetable type thing here and there. Unless you own a green Niptor. Green Niptors tend to not eat meat, as I said above.

Grooming: Being covered in scales, you do not exactly need to brush it. All you really need to do is give them a bath once in a while. Be sure not to use anything too strong. I would recommend the Herb Infused Soap. The talons and teeth do need to be sharpened every once in a while as well. Because of all the biting Niptors do, their teeth tend to get dulled. Talons dull over time, whether they're using them extensively or not.

Exercise: Niptors are usually up on their feet and running around, jumping, and playing anyway, so not much exercise is needed. However, if you happen to get one of the lazier Niptors, it is recommended that you bring it to walks or play with it every day to keep it in good health.

Thank you for reading! Hopefully you now have a new appreciation for Niptors!

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