Ok, I have Sand Dragons in my story. They have brown dots on their backs, and they can blend in their sandy surroundings. When they are hatchlings they can heal people by licking the wounds. When they are adults they lose that ability, but they can talk so that people can understand them. I am still learning about them in my story. They are curious creatures and like to follow strangers who walk through their desert.
When they are ready to grow, they pace around and then their skin starts to peel away. Several minutes later the tiny little hatchling grows to around 15 feet high.

Wow! That sure is fast growth. Can they breathe fire?

Hehe, yeah. I have one of my hatchlings named Vana get a little attached to one of the humans and when people try to grab her to take her away she blows a little fireball at them.

Why are they called Sand dragons if they breath fire?

They blend in with the sand kind of. They live in a desert in Mohali.

LOL. Vana sounds like she could add a little comedy to the story. I'd like to know more about her and the sand dragons

Do they ONLY live in that desert or can they survive elsewhere?

Sand dragons mainly live in the desert, but I have two of my sand dragons that follow my characters around. They go with my characters to the other country of Aldra.

Vana, she does provide some comic to my story. One of my main characters has a wife who was giving birth, he was outside pacing and Vana commented that he looked like he was ready to grow soon. This was a joke refering to the growth process of the dragons.

That's funny. These dragons are brown in color, right?

Well, I think that they are the color that sand is, to blend in. But have some brown spots on their back.

Oh, ok. How big are their wings in proportion to their body?

Hehe... I do not think I have that in my novel... The dragons are 15 feet high so.. hmm. I am not sure yet.

Are they good at burrowing? I think it would be neat if the hatchlings dug nests into cacti like desert wrens but that's just me... what do they eat?

Just you and me. That would be cool.

Same here!

The hatchlings drink their mother's milk, I think the adult dragons probably eat meat that is given to them. I have not really written much about their eating habits. I think that they would be good at burrowing, because they have caves in the sand dunes.

Is their skin rough, like the sand? I like the idea of them living in caves in sand dunes... Could they breathe if the sand collapsed on them? Would it collapse? Do they like wet sand or dry sand?

Oh boy, I should write a book all about them. I do not know everything about them yet to answer all of your questions. I think that their skin is smooth, because I think that I have one of my characters stroke one on the neck.

No problem. I know I have *cough* questions I haven't worked out that I need to answer...

I am sure that they like all kinds of sand and I think that they probably cannot breathe if sand fell on them because they are somewhat a normal type of dragon.

"Somewhat normal" Yes, that makes sense.

So how do they make these caves in the sand? Wouldn't a sand dune collapse on them, because sand dunes are usually powdery sand? Or are these different? I really like the idea though--it's always cool to see a unique twist on dragons.

eruheran

I think that they could dig out their caves, I was thinking that the sand caves would be almost as hard as rock.

Sort of like limestone or sandstone? (Pun intended)

Haha, Shawn. I like the idea of sand caves. The only problem is that wind is constantly changing the form and locations of sand dunes so they'd have to be pretty deep.

*bows* I'm glad someone appreciates my sense of humor. Ooh, what if they're beneath the sand dunes? Of course, that would depend on the construction of your desert.

That would be cool--some sort of caves that are hidden by the shifting sand dunes--*likes the idea*

eruheran

Well, the caves lead to a hole that has passages and such where the dragons hide in. A Christian group hides and lives there taking care of the dragons, because female dragons have difficulty giving birth. Kind of like how we help horses give birth.

Sand caves wouldn't really be possible.

Well, I'm thinking that as the dragons dig, they can put something on the inner coating that would make it very strong.

Hmm, they could spit on it. Oh, or they could put cactus juice on it which hardens after a few hours in those conditions.

Those would work. If there was something to solidify the sand then it would be feasible. I like the spit idea, myself personally.

Sounds neat. Maybe I'll write a short story about them sometime.

*laughs* Like DKP's dragons? They could have different colored spit according to their age.

"Johnnie, stop spitting on the wall! You're messing up the color scheme! This is just as bad as those human children Margaret was telling me about that draw on the walls!"

Ahem. Seriously, that might be kind of fun.

I use my "dragons" spit for a specific purpose myself. *grins mischievously*

LOL!!! Oh! I remember Mrs. Paul's spitting dragons. lol! The thing is, when my dragons are young when they lick you it brings healing. That stops when they grow up.

Would it leave a colorful scar?

No, it looks like normal licks.

So I was wondering, how can a dragon, or anything burrow into a sand dune?

I then began answering this question for myself. When sand gets super-heated, it turns to glass. So perhaps sand dragons prevent cave ins by breathing on the walls of their caves and turning them to glass. Just an idea, and you still have to figure how they make the cave in the first place.

Good theory, I thought of that too. But if it turns to glass the structure is now dangerous, should it collapse.

Yeah, you wouldn't want an earthquake to happen!

or there could be natural caves under the surface and they have to go through a little bit of sand to get in there.

That's what I was thinking earlier. I still like the spitting idea, though. Maybe the adults could mark their places off?

Maybe.

I like the glass idea, but I'm not sure if it would withstand the weight of an entire dune. I like the idea of caves below the sand.

it could be a very hard and unbreakable glass only known to them...

It really kind of depends on the density of the sand. On how big each particle of sand you have.

yeah,

I might start a story about the dragons really soon.