# Need an answer to a quesion



## MAC10 (May 5, 2010)

Hi there!
I'm writing a story and in order for me to continue, I need an aswer to the following question: how many eggs does a female dragon lay on average?
Your help will be greatly appreciated.


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## Xipoid (May 5, 2010)

MAC10 said:


> Hi there!
> I'm writing a story and in order for me to continue, I need an aswer to the following question: how many eggs does a female dragon lay on average?
> Your help will be greatly appreciated.




Given how dragons are a fantasy creature, you can concoct whatever you wish to be the answer to that. You could go the realism route and research trends for reptiles with increasing size, temperament, or differing regions or you could throw realism out the window and just pick a number willy-nilly.


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## M. LeRenard (May 5, 2010)

I suppose it would have something to do with how old your dragons end up growing to.  Like, for example, if they lived for 1000s of years, they probably wouldn't be laying 100 eggs at a time, or else they'd end up consuming the planet.  Baby survival rate has a lot to do with it, too.  Frogs, for example, lay thousands of eggs and then just take off, hoping that at least a couple end up producing viable offspring, because those eggs are totally vulnerable to predators and other hazards.
So you should probably base it on something like that.


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## sunandshadow (May 6, 2010)

What kind of dragons?  Anthro dragons would likely reproduce like humans - usually a single offspring at a time.  Non-anthro dragons who take care of their young would probably reproduce like birds, laying clutches of three or more eggs.  Non-anthro dragons who abandon their eggs would probably reproduce like reptiles, laying up to 40 eggs.  Dragons who live in a hive an reproduce like bees is yet another possibility.


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## Murphy Z (May 6, 2010)

1 ... 2 ... 3. Three.

But seriously, since dragons are large, as you even get up to double digits the realism goes down significantly. Or there can be a large group of eggs, but they fight each other until there's only one.


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## panzergulo (May 6, 2010)

Dragons lay _Ï€_ eggs, or, in rare occasions, _âˆš2_ eggs.

Jokes aside... of course the number of the eggs is a non-negative integer. Sunandshadow says pretty much what I wanted to say, highly intellectual creature that would be more than able to take care of a family would probably lay only one or two eggs, whereas more beastly types of dragons would lay more, depending what kind of behavior you have given to your dragons.


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## Hauke (May 6, 2010)

I'd be in favor of five...but that's just because I like eggs.  :>  As others have said, it depends on the dragon, I suppose.  

The big solidly built low to the ground dragon might lean more toward the crocodilian style of things...in the neighborhood of 20-30.  Lighter built for flight, more like a bird of prey...three or so.


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## MAC10 (May 6, 2010)

sunandshadow said:


> What kind of dragons?  Anthro dragons would likely reproduce like humans - usually a single offspring at a time.  Non-anthro dragons who take care of their young would probably reproduce like birds, laying clutches of three or more eggs.  Non-anthro dragons who abandon their eggs would probably reproduce like reptiles, laying up to 40 eggs.  Dragons who live in a hive an reproduce like bees is yet another possibility.



The dragon in question is a western fire dragon.


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## Aeturnus (May 6, 2010)

Try Googling it.


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## MAC10 (May 6, 2010)

Well I gave it some thought and came to the conclusion that I should add as much realism as possible to the story. So I've decided to go with this: as average clutch of eggs is going to be about three to five. 


Thanks to all of you who helped me with this. It makes my life much easier. 
Here us my FA profile. You can read what I've got so far and tell me what you think. 

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/mac10/


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## Stratelier (May 6, 2010)

IMHO I might suggest one to three.

Renard already listed most of the considerations you should take into account:  Tier of the food chain (dragons are usually apex predators), survival rate of young, age to puberty, adult lifespan and fertility cycle, and any senior (post fertility) lifespan.


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## Kindar (May 6, 2010)

dragons lay as many eggs as you need them to


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## MAC10 (May 6, 2010)

Stratadrake said:


> IMHO I might suggest one to three.
> 
> Renard already listed most of the considerations you should take into account:  Tier of the food chain (dragons are usually apex predators), survival rate of young, age to puberty, adult lifespan and fertility cycle, and any senior (post fertility) lifespan.



So much thinking! I feel as though I have writer's block at the moment. I'll think it over for a few hours. 

Here's what I've got so far with this info that all of you have given me, anything with an "H" by it means I need an outside sugestion:

1. Teir of food chain: top of the line predator
2. Survival rate is probably small considering that the parents stay with the young for about five years after they hatch. So the protection provided by the parents will most likely need to be taken into account. 
3. Age to puberty: _H_
4. Adult lifespan: _H_
5. Fertility cycle: _H_
6. Senior lifespan: _H_


So far, I'm leaning towards three.


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## reian (May 6, 2010)

IF you go based off Anne McCaffrey(sp?) and her Dragonriders of Pern books it would be somewhere in the ball park of 8-15 eggs per clutch.


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## kitreshawn (May 6, 2010)

General considerations you should have (from a biology perspective).

How big are the eggs in your mind (compared to the dragons themselves).  The larger the eggs the fewer will be laid.

Survival Rate.  There are two basic breeding strategies that exist: produce lots of offspring which only a few survive or produce just a few offspring with a higher survival rate.

Parental care.  If parents help raise the children after they are hatched they will have fewer eggs.  If the eggs/young are on their own for the most part (such as with sea turtles) there will be many eggs laid.

Ironically life span doesn't play much into it.  The primary consideration is breeding strategy.  Humans only have 1-2 children in most cases, as a result parental investment in a single child is quite large.  Bunnies and such have more children and as such a lower comparative parental investment.  Sea Turtles abandon their young after laying the eggs, so they lay a ton of them in the hopes that 1 or 2 will survive.  Wolves 'cheat' as they have a high investment in a fairly large number of young, however in that case there is a whole pack to help care for the children instead of a single female (or mated pair).

And that, boys and girls, is your lesson in ecology for the day.


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## MAC10 (May 6, 2010)

What is the most common age of sexual maturity of a dragon. This kinda affects the main character, so it is needed (character's age is about 20, too young? Because I have no clue).


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## Jay the Fox (May 6, 2010)

Dragons tend to reach maturity fast, at one year of age, I believe. I think your character is good.


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## MAC10 (May 6, 2010)

Jay the Fox said:


> Dragons tend to reach maturity fast, at one year of age, I believe. I think your character is good.



Thank you! You have no idea how much this helps! If you have any more info, send me a PM. 
Now I can get back to writing! Whoo! The problem is solved for the most part!

Again, thank you, thank you all!


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## Poetigress (May 7, 2010)

MAC10 said:


> What is the most common age of sexual maturity of a dragon.



*It's a mythical creature. There is no single correct answer to any of the questions you're asking.* 

You've already gotten some good input as far as what to think about biologically in order to be realistic. My added question would be, what does the story need the dragons to be? What needs to happen in the story, and what the story's about, will probably affect what type of life cycle you develop for them.


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