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Post by Wolf_Rainbowtail on Mar 24, 2012 13:16:58 GMT -5
Interesting facts, tips and tricks, etc
This isn't very well organized. That's because I'm lazy.
Interesting Facts *Dralons cannot hear, at all. All their other senses are stronger to compensate for this though, especially their eyes, that's why they're so large. *Dralons, although considered male and female, are actually hermaphrodites. *When breeding, BOTH of the parent Dralons become pregnant and have pups, that's why there's always at least two in a litter. *Dralons are sentient *They communicate via telepathy within their flock *A Dralon cannot speak to a Dralon of another flock. They can use body language to communicate though *Dralons do not make any noises because it serves no purpose to them since they can't hear. *Dralons are big, like, horse-sized. Only exception is, ironically, the Horsetails, which are about large dog sized. *Dralons have three toes on each paw *Dralons do not have any claws (Unless added because they won enough shows XD) *They do however have very sharp teeth, and can easily defend themselves if need be *Dralons have no natural predators *They're scavengers, eating anything that's dead and meat *Dralons are highly social, and become very upset if separated from their flock
Tips *Even though it's SUPPOSED to be 50/50, when breeding Dralons of two types, the second one posted is often the one that the pups are. *It's best to breed two Dralons that have close to the same number of markings, otherwise one parent will greatly dominate the outcome of the pups *Things aren't always as they seem XD Look at the stats, they don't lie
Think that's about it for now. This'll be added to later.
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Post by Wolf_Rainbowtail on Nov 21, 2012 15:06:01 GMT -5
And here's likely everything you could possibly want to know about Dralons, and more XD The sections are completely random, I might put them into alphabetical order later. If there's a section you'd like to see here that isn't, just tell me and I'll write it up ^.^
Note that this is still being added to. I'm just taking a little break from it.
Reproduction As touched on earlier in this page, Dralons do not have set genders. Their owners tend to assign genders to them based on personality or appearance, however this does not change their actual gender, or lack of one.
A Dralon's reproductive tract is unique to any species studied thus far. All Dralons produce eggs and sperm, yet even this is different than other species. Rather than starting off with a set number of eggs, or producing sperm all the time, Dralons only produce what they need, when they need it, and are 100% fertile from the minute they enter adulthood. There is absolutely no limit to how many pups a Dralon can produce in a lifetime.
Mating can vary slightly, but generally the larger Dralon crouches or lies down with their tails out of the way of their reproductive opening. The smaller mounts it, and presses it's reproductive opening to that of it's partner's. In order to hold itself steady, the Dralon on top will usually bite into the mane of the Dralon on the bottom.
Just above the reproductive opening on a Dralon is a small nub much like a clitoris. It is the act of these structures on both Dralons touching each other that signals that production of sperm and eggs.
One to three eggs are produced from each Dralon, usually in even number, however, if the number of offspring is uneven, it is always the Dralon on top that produces the extra egg. There has never been a case of both Dralons producing three eggs, so the litter size of a pair is generally agreed upon to be between two and five pups. Once the eggs in both Dralons have been produced, sperm travels from both Dralons to their partner.
Mating is quick, taking anywhere from a few seconds to about a minute. Occasionally the Dralons will fight (though not with the intent to injure) for dominance in a breeding, and there have been instances where Dralons will mate twice, switching positions, but still only produce one litter.
100% of breedings produce pups.
As soon as the eggs are fertilized, they begin very rapidly to grow into pups. The gestation period for a Dralon pair is very short, but varied. It is generally anywhere from a few hours to a few days. A Dralon pair's gestation period will always be the same however.
At the end of the gestation period, both Dralons will give birth at the same time. Dralon pairs generally stay with each other during the short pregnancy and act more affectionate toward each other than they would normally.
Pups are generally born head first, though tail first births do happen and are nothing to be alarmed about. There are virtually no complications with birthing with Dralons, possibly because of how small the pups are.
Pups are born blind, helpless, markingless and tailless, but with their teeth fully formed. The parents bring their pups food. Generally it is only their parents that care for them, however other Dralons do take interest in the pups and will play with them or keep them safe while the parents are out searching for food.
Within about an hour after birth, a Dralon's eyes open, and they are always the exact shade they will be as an adult. Within four hours they can walk on their own, and by twelve hours their tails and markings are starting to become visible, with the markings starting off very faint and eventually becoming the colours they will be as adults.
Dralon parents don't have any bias toward pups, including who birthed which pup, and generally treat the entire litter the same, that is with the utmost care.
It is believed that around the 20th hour, a pup's telepathy starts forming, as the parents are usually more alert to the pups then, often turning toward them as a mother cat reacts to her kitten's mews.
By the 24th hour, the pups are fully grown. They may stay with their parents for a bit longer, but generally they become full members of the flock and the parents, besides the very rare Dralons that mate for life, go their separate ways and return to how they were before the mating.
Hierarchy Dralon flocks tend to not have a leader. There may be Dralons that seem more 'popular' than others, but this usually has nothing to do with how the flock is 'run'.
In fact, a Dralon flock doesn't really look like any other group of animals. It more resembles a group of humans. Each Dralon tends to have their own circle of friends that they stay with more than the others. Some Dralons in a flock won't even interact at all, or may be mildly hostile to each other.
There are exceptions though. A Dralon flock is just as varied as the Dralons in it. There are the occasional Dralons that the entire flock seems to know for various reasons, and also Dralons that tend to spend a lot of their time alone.
Strangely though, though they have no leader of any sort in wild flocks, Dralons take readily to domestication and are very loyal to their owner, following commands, allowing themselves to be ridden, and even only mating with Dralons chosen for them by their owner.
No one is sure why this is, not even the Dralons themselves. They just seem to naturally follow a human's orders, and will remain loyal to the same human as long as they remain their pet.
Again, there are exceptions. Some owners allow their Dralons to mate with whichever flock members they want to, and Dralons can be rebellious or fearful of their owner, but this is usually only for a short time as they get used to their owner.
Body Language
Dralon body language is for the most part, a cross between a human's and a cat's. Dralons communicating with members of their own flock don't use body language as often, preferring to let the tone of their telepathy get their message across. Sometimes Dralons within a flock will communicate with each other when they're out of range to even see each other.
When communicating with a human, a Dralon's body language is usually pretty obvious. Their faces can mirror any expression a human can give, from happy to sad to fearful. They can also cry, which is a very obvious sign that they're very unhappy.
A lowered head is submissive, fearful, guilty, etc, whereas a raised head is happy, excited, dominant, etc. If a Dralon crosses it's front paws, it means it's nervous, if it crosses it's back ones too, then it is extremely nervous.
Unless playing, a Dralon generally will not roll over onto their back unless they want to apologize for something. It's also a form of very strong submission.
Although they do not do so among other Dralons, they have learned that shaking their head means no and nodding it means yes, and will use this to communicate with their owners.
They will raise the fur along their backs if scared or surprised, they also bare their teeth to intimidate or to give a warning that they don't like whatever it is you're doing.
If very happy, Dralons tend to be... bouncy, and may knock their owner over by accident by jumping up or at them. Most learn that a human isn't as strong as a Dralon pretty quickly and will stop this behaviour quite soon after they grow up, around their owner, at any rate.
Their tails are generally the same as their head. Up is for positive emotions and down is for negative. A Dralon will lash their tails like a cat if something is annoying them.
Interactions with other animals Now Dralons can't quite be classified as animals due to their intelligence, but they will be referred to as such here.
Unless the animals in question belong to their owners, Dralons tend to not interact with other species very much. Dralons generally do not attack animals that could be considered as their 'prey' unless the flock is literally starving. As mentioned earlier, Dralons are scavengers. Usually in the wild members of a flock will wander quite far away from each other to find food, keeping in touch with the rest of their flock via telepathy. Periodically, the entire flock, or small groups of them will meet up, and food will be given to those that weren't successful in their scavenging.
The safety of all members of their flock is the most important thing in a Dralon's mind, and no matter how disliked a particular Dralon is, members of it's flock will always give it food if it needs it.
In the wild, Dralons do chase other animals away from their kills and steal them. They generally will not actually confront another animal and fight it unless they need to, and accomplish the stealing through numbers and intimidation displays.
Dralons hunt as an almost last resort. It is only if enough food cannot be found for all members of the flock that they will actually kill animals.
An interesting fact is that a flock will never drive another member out. If enough food cannot be found, the flock will share what it has and despite their attempts to care for them, the weaker members will die until the flock has reached a size where it can again be sustained by the environment it's in.
Unless starving, a Dralon flock will not attack another Dralon flock, and they tend to live peacefully with other flocks. In fact, most of the time, if the area can sustain them, most Dralon flocks that meet in the wild merge to form a single larger flock. Dralons seem to like having the largest flocks possible. It is unknown why.
Diet Dralons are strictly carnivores. A Dralon will not eat a plant even if it is dying of starvation. It's believed that quite a few plants, maybe even all of them, are poisonous to Dralons.
Other than that, Dralons are not picky eaters. Anything that is dead is fair game, well, except humans and other Dralons. Generally in the wild food is either eaten as soon as it's found or dragged to a meeting place and shared with other members of their flock.
Everything on the prey is generally eaten, including the bones. Dralons have very strong teeth. A Dralon seems to have no preference for type of meet. If offered two choices, a Dralon will generally simply start eating the one closest to it, or the freshest.
Human owned Dralons are generally fed raw beef and chicken and such. As long as they have enough to feed the entire flock, an owner can simply leave out a set amount of meat each day and have no worries that one Dralon will eat it all or try to hide it from their flockmates.
In a pinch, Dralons can be fed mushrooms, any kind as they're immune to all the toxins found in them. They much prefer meat though, and usually only resort to mushrooms if they're starving.
Special Note that doesn't really have a section Human owned flocks tend to be as varied as the members in it, and each one seems different. A lot of it depends on environment, how much room they have, if their owner provides food or they have to get it themselves, how close their owner is to their Dralons, etc.
Generally the less like the wild their environment is, the less close knit the flock is. This isn't to say that a Dralon will abandon their flock or try to kill a flockmate, because they won't, no matter what the circumstances. It's also not to say that a Dralon's feelings for a flockmate will change. More, that they can express it in an environment where they don't have to do as much. In the wild, a flock is mainly focused around finding food. Often there isn't room for personal preferences beyond maybe Dralons that enjoy each other's company staying closer to each other while they look for food.
In human owned flocks though, there tends to be rivalries, Dralons that don't like or trust a certain other Dralon, even small displays of hostility such as nipping or hitting with a paw. This is nothing to be alarmed about. Each Dralon is different after all, and some personalities just don't click. It's not that it's unnatural, more that they just don't really have time for personal preferences in the wild.
Human communication with Dralons As mentioned previously, Dralons cannot hear anything. This becomes quite problematic for their owners. They also cannot be taught to read writing, though many attempts have been made. To communicate with Dralons, a human has to pretty much make up a new language. Dralons are quick learners and can remember codes. For instance, Dralons can quickly catch on that shaking your head means no and nodding it means yes, and will even begin using it as part of their body language toward their owner.
Generally the most accepted way to communicate with a Dralon is to teach them sign language. Or, rather, you communicate in sign language that you've taught the Dralon to understand and the Dralon communicates in it's normal body language since it's paws are not anything like a human hand.
Most owners don't bother trying to actually talk to their Dralons at all, and instead use hand signals to train them. Though it has been proven multiple times that Dralons are just as intelligent as humans, many find the barrier of them being deaf too challenging and simply treat them like a pet dog or horse, even talking to them when it's clear they don't understand.
Anatomy Here's where it gets weird XD
As you may know, Dralons are not mammals. Though they have a short layer of fur, underneath that are scales.The scales match the colours and patterns of the fur on top of them perfectly, although they are quite a bit shinier than the fur XD The length of a Dralon's fur depends on the climate. Though it's short, Dralons that live in warm climates will have shorter fur than those that live in cooler climates. Dralons generally only shed when the temperature becomes drastically warmer, usually in the summer.
As wild Dralons may have to travel many miles to find food, they are endurance rather than speed creatures. A Dralon could likely walk all day without growing tired, but a short sprint is all they can manage at their top speed.
They are hardy creatures, with strong backs and large paws. Heavy burdens are nothing to them and they can keep up a steady walk with a human on their backs no problem.
Their manes are soft, rather narrow, and don't seem to be used for protection like a lion's is. It has no feeling. You could pluck out the hairs on a Dralon's mane one by one and it wouldn't feel a thing. It's not advised to do this however, as manes also make an excellent thing to grip onto while mounting a Dralon.
Dralons tails are difficult to describe as they come in many different types. There are always two of them though, and they are always of the same type.
Dralons have very large eyes. It is believed that they compensate for the lack of hearing. They have a good sense of smell as well however their sense of taste isn't very developed.
Dralons give birth to live young and do not suckle them, as they lack that part of mammalian anatomy as well.
Deep in the Dralon's chest, past the muscles, bone, and wrapped around their heart is a flame that never goes out. This is the reason why Dralons always seem warm to the touch no matter the temperature.
Dralons are cold blooded, and the flame regulates their temperature. They cannot do anything with the flame, such as breathe fire. It is just part of what they are.
Other than the flame and the aforementioned cold bloodedness, the rest of a Dralon is quite unremarkable and resembles a mammal.
Due to the widespread knowledge that Dralons are sentient, it is illegal to hunt them for any of their parts for any reason.
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Post by Wolf_Rainbowtail on Dec 24, 2012 2:37:17 GMT -5
So, I really like the way Dralon paw pads look and decided to make them their own section on this thread because I can XD Dralons don't exactly have paw pads. Where you would find paw pads on an animal, Dralons instead have four scales that are larger and stick out from the fur. They're flat on the bottom and textured to provide good gripping. What's kind of cool about them are the colour though XD The first scale, the larger, main one that would be found on a Dralon's 'palm' is always it's base colour, even if it's markings have completely covered it's base everywhere else. The two outside ones that are found on the bottom of the paws are the same colour as it's eyes, and the middle one is the inverse of that colour. So... here are what the paw pads of some of my Dralons look like XD ASDF! Chloe Wildsong Wolfpaw Chances are quite good that if you PMed me a Dralon along with all it's stats, that I'd make a little paw pad for it like the ones above XD
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Post by Wolf_Rainbowtail on Jan 3, 2013 7:34:41 GMT -5
I'm just starting a new post here because reasons.
On the concept of names...
Dralon names are... odd. Well, the names themselves aren't, or they can be, but that's not quite the point.
The name a Dralon calls itself and the name their owner has for them is the same. This is despite the fact that they cannot communicate. The names of human owned Dralons are often very human-like in nature as well. You'll never find a wild Dralon named David for instance, but human owned ones can certainly have that name.
No one is quite sure how the name comes to be. Humans, of course, think that they're the ones naming their Dralons, but the truth is, the name already exists before they choose it. The name often feels like a really good fit for the Dralon. And it usually is. There can also be a distinct style of naming in a flock that isn't found in another flock. It's complicated.
And not only this, but a Dralon can tell another Dralon's name just by looking at them. They don't even need to be of the same flock. Dralons just take this for granted, the phenomenon isn't anything that they really think about. They can tell names the same way humans can mostly tell someone's gender just by looking at them.
Speaking of gender, as there isn't any in the Dralon species, they have no concept of it, and do not use the gender pronouns. If a Dralon is speaking of another Dralon, they quite often use their name. Occasionally they will use the pronoun they or them, or 'that Dralon' or whatever.
They also use the word hear, but it refers to the internal voices of other Dralons.
Yep.
They also use type and markings in their speech. They understand the concept of Lizardtail and Lynxtail and whatever else, as well as markings. Allll the markings. Including ones that I haven't made yet. They can only go off of what their eyes show them though. They wouldn't know about a hidden marking unless it showed up on a cub. Basically, if you can't tell what the marking is without looking at the stats, a Dralon wouldn't be able to tell what it is either XD
Like... maybe a conversation with a Dralon talking to another Dralon about a Dralon the second Dralon hadn't met yet would help you XD All names randomly plucked from a Warrior Cat book because I'm too lazy to make up my own.
And yes, it /is/ weird and likely looks like bad grammar XD I could have used pronouns for the part that isn't speaking if I had wanted to. That's acceptable. I chose to try and use the language the way a Dralon would the whole way through though XD
"So what does Speckletail look like?" The other Dralon seemed interested, even though Pinestar could tell they were focusing on looking for food.
"Speckletail is as blue as the sky." Pinestar began. "Speckletail has beautiful purple splotches all over their fur, and white polka dots as well." Pinestar nodded their head even though they knew that Stormtail couldn't see the motion.
"They have blue eyes a bit darker than their fur and they're a Lynxtail." Pinestar waved their own stumpy tails around. "I know you don't like eating the prey that the master puts out for us, but you should be around at feeding time if you want to see them for yourself. I don't really understand why you don't just talk to them now. From what I understand, Dralons have been talking to Speckletail all day long to welcome them to our flock. I was interrupted by Sunfall of all Dralons while I was talking to Speckletail. You know pretty much no one ever sees Sunfall."
"Eh, it just seems kind of rude to me to talk to a Dralon for the first time before we've even seen each other." Pinestar could almost hear the shrug that Stormtail likely gave. "I'll welcome them to the flock at feeding time."
Both Dralons could sense that the conversation was pretty much over. "I'll let you get back to looking for prey then." Pinestar told their friend, and then let the telepathic connection between them go.
Well... Wolf here again. That ended up a lot longer than I thought it would XD Hopefully it helps a bit XD Dralons certainly aren't like anything else. They're meant to seem strange and weird, and since other than pictures, pretty much what you have of them is typing, it makes sense that that would be a bit weird too XD
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