Parental habits of dragons

[vampirehunter42]

I was thinking of this last night. Just what type of parent would a dragon be? And if only one stayed to care which one would it be?

Will they be like most mammals and birds? Do the parent dragons provide most if not all the food for the young. Do they "teach" them the lessons they need to know in life. Do they protect them from dangers by keeping them in a "safety area". (And so on and so forth) And do this until the child is an adult. (whatever age that is)

Are they like crocodiles and some fish? Would they protect them from most dangers by staying around. But food, lessons of life, and other things they are on their own.

Would they be like snakes and lizards? Just lay the eggs in a somewhat safe place and leave them on their own.

Or would it be something different. Maybe like the octopus mother who keeps the eggs safe till they hatch but most of the times will die due to the time and energy keeping them safe and clean.

Or would it be the father, like the seahorse, that keeps the children on its own.


(I know what myth and legend says, but lets think on it..)

[alondor]

vamp legends are the only records that talk about the creature all of us here are fasinated by so we should take those as fact (except for them being evil village destroying monsters)

so i would have to say that the mom protects the eggs until they hatch at which point they can fend for themselves

OR

they could be like sea turtles and bury their eggs in sand or volcanic ash

[Falconer]

According to many legends, dragons are sentient creatures. In "The Lost World" (book by Michael Crichton) the character Ian Malcom comments on how most animals are purely instinctual, and thus have no need to teach their offspring, the more intelligent animals (raptors, etc.) use learned behavior and thus require instruction and role modeling by the adults of the species. Thus I would say that dragons raise their young for the first few years of their life, mom or dad or both.

[Dragon444]

If I were you I'd hunt down The Book of the Dragon. It's been a while since I last read it, but I'm pretty sure that it covers this. Dragons are social creatures, and higly inteligent, therefore they create collonies like human towns. They lay there eggs in volcanic ash and let it hatch on it's own, the newborn is then raised by at least one parent (I can't remember which), then after a certain amount of time the young will go on there own in a sort of right of passage. After at least 20 years, the dragon returns to the collony.

[Blue Tiger]

I have that book, if its the Ciruelo one you mean... Well from that, it says that once the female lays the egg, the male looks after it, keeping watch over the egg, and once hacthed, brings food to the young dragon but eventually leaves it alone, the dragon spends about 20 years wandering on untill it either finds a permanent home or is taken into tutelage by an older dragon and taught in the ways of magic and wisdom.

But, thats just one idea. If we were to discuss the whole bringing up thing we would have to go back to the basic question: Do you believe that dragons were very intelligent? I say yes, and that they can talk, and if this was the case then, yes, they would look after their young from the egg and probably let the dragon do what it likes once old enough and capable of hunting talking and wise enough to survive. They would probably have a proper bond and the young dragon may stay with its parents for a long time, becuase if they are as intelligent as us, just think about how we are brought up, it would be something similar to our upbringing.

As for which parent looks after the egg, well, staying with the theory that they are as intelligent as us, I would say that they both would, teaching the dragon to hunt and other things.

If we were looking at dragons as not as intelligent as us and more animal like, then perhaps one parent would look after the eggs (Usualy more than one I would think), untill they hacth, maybe look after them untill they are efficient at hunting then would leave them or drive them away, (Like Eagels), then its up to themselves to survive.

[Pandora]

Hmm, Maybe it would verry upon the different type of breed.

Or,

Asuming they are intelagent the parental care might very like that of humankind. Which menas that parental care would be based on the paticular personalaty of the indavidual parent.