Guide to Dragons

Swamp Dragon

Name: Swamp Dragon (Draco palus)
Element: Acid
Size: 5 feet tall (1.524 meters), 12-14 feet long (3.6576-4.2672 meters), 400-450 pounds (181.437-204.117 kilograms)
Diet: Fish, frogs, birds, other small reptiles
Habitat: Swamps and marshes

Description: 

The Swamp dragon, as its name suggests, lives in swamps and marshes around the world. With its long body and distinctive red fins on its legs and sail on its back, it's surprising how good at hiding it is. This dragon has several unique characteristics that sets it apart from the other acid-elementals. 

First, it has a beak without teeth. This is used when the dragon wants to catch the slippery prey of its wet home. In a fight with other dragons, this beak can also make a dangerous weapon.

Second, it has bright red fins and a sail. The fins are useless for swimming, and the sail has no real purpose either. So, you could say these are purely for show.

And third, it's scales. Unlike regular dragon scales, which are tiny little things that overlap one another, this dragon has large scales that interlock, making a suit of armor (of sorts). Because of this fact, movement for the dragon is restricted. To hunt, it usually lies still, waiting for some creature to come to it. 

This dragon might have the worst parental instincts in the dragon world. After mating, the male basically abandons the female to raise the eggs on her own. Swamp dragons have between 5-7 eggs every two years or so. The female guards the eggs until they hatch, at which point she goes off to hunt. Some hatchlings will stay at the nest, hoping that their mother might have leftovers she can give them, but most know not to stick around. After her hunting trip, the mother returns, but usually doesn't have a single thing for her new babies. By that point, the young dragons are on their own. The chicks will feed on whatever they can, whether it's insects, frogs, snakes, bird eggs, or carrion. It takes about a year and a half for them to become fully grown. 

A quick note on the mothers: Swamp dragons have horrible eyesight, and usually rely on smells and their infrared vision to help them find prey. Unfortunately for the babies, to their mother, sometimes they look just like large lizards. Mother have been known to mistakenly kill and eat their chicks. 

Swamp dragons are usually peaceful, and don't have a problem with humans or other dragons. In fact, you could walk right up in front of a swamp dragon and it wouldn't care. However, if the dragon is guarding eggs, stay well away. This is a creature easily capable of killing a human. 

If, for some reason, one is acting aggressive towards you, then you should try to calmly walk away, slowly and without making a lot of noise. If the dragon sees you as the slightest bit of a threat... well, nothing good will come of it.