A Field Guide to Dragons of Hypatia
By Vivian Rosalee
Shadow Dragons
Shadow dragons are hard to spot, and even harder to depict. They are so dark that there seems to be a lack of depth, almost like a real shadow. They get slightly lighter as they age, but not much.
They are nearly 100% genetically identical to rainbow dragons. They only difference is shadow dragons are made up of all shadows, where rainbow dragons are made up of all light. This makes shadow dragons utterly terrified of rainbow dragons. They do all they can to avoid each other, and (almost) always succeed. There have been some reports of meetings occurring, though nothing officially documented. Still, one wonders what would happen should they form an unlikely pair…
Elements
(hybrid- secondary)
water
air
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Average Weight
15 pounds
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Average Length
3 feet
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Average Wingspan
8 feet
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Average Height (at shoulder)
1 foot
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Appearance
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Shadow dragons are extremely dark throughout their life, only gaining the tiniest amount of color in their wings as they mature. They truly seem like a flat shadow if they are not moving. Only their eyes are colored- almost like a shining jewel.
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The Egg
Shadow dragon eggs are smooth, with no pitting. They are oval in shape- similar to a chicken egg, but much larger. They average about 6 inches in length.
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The are pure black, with silver sparkles giving them a bit of a shine when hit with a light source.
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Hatchlings and Adulthood
When first hatched, shadow dragons are black except for their eyes, which may be either a gray or a pale color. As they grow older, they begin to develop color in their eyes, and a little bit on their wings.
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Typical female eye tones and wing color ranges
Determining the Sex
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The sex of shadow dragons cannot be determined until they mature enough for color to be seen on their wings or eyes. Even then, the color is not the most reliable indicator. The following is what is typical for male and female shadow dragons.
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Males
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Wing and eye color: warm tones
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Females
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Wing and eye color: cool tones
Typical male eye tones and wing color ranges
Genetics
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There are three ways a shadow dragon egg can be laid and hatched.
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Two shadow dragons mating and laying shadow dragon eggs. ​
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Two rainbow dragons mating and laying shadow dragon eggs
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A female cloud dragon consumes the spores of a sun dragon, causing her next eggs to be laid as shadow dragon eggs
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A shadow dragon will never mate with a rainbow dragon. If such a case were to happen, it is unlikely that the result would be pure rainbow or shadow eggs.
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Reproduction
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Breeding
Not much is known about the reproduction of shadow dragons, since they are so elusive. It is assumed to happen only at night in the darkest shadows, but we can't know for sure.
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The Nest
It is impossible to tell the difference between a shadow dragon and a rainbow dragon nest. You can only know for sure if you see the shadow dragons making the nest, and that has never actually been witnessed. It's possible they reuse old nests from rainbow dragons, but they always will make or use a nest in a cave.
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Laying Eggs
Since there is not much info on shadow dragon egg laying, we can only guess it is similar to rainbow dragons. It takes 1-2 weeks for a female dragon to lay her eggs after mating. The average clutch size is 4. Each egg has a 50% chance to be a rainbow dragon egg instead of a shadow dragon. She instinctually abandons the nest afterwards, since she is so terrified of rainbow dragons, even if they are still in their egg.
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Shadow dragons can remain in their egg indefinitely. They only hatch during the night when a rainstorm hits. Like their mother, they too abandon the nest, ready to begin their life with their first breath.
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Shadow Dragon nest
A typical Shadow dragon habitat
Habitat
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Living
Shadow dragons have been found all over the planet. They only live in caves so that they never have to be in the light.
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Collections
The only known shadow dragon collection was comprised of large boulders of various rock types. Perhaps they like the security and shadows that these large rocks create.
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Movement
Shadow dragons leave the nest immediately, either traveling to an entirely new cave, or in some cases, moving to a new location in their original cave if it is large enough.
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Diet
They will eat any small bugs- preferring dark beetle looking bugs.
