Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling's wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.

Dragons don't communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

Red dragons are similar to typical story book dragons. They shoot flames, can fly, etc. However, they aren't evil creatures as depicted in myths and won't go around raiding castles, killing knights, or kidnapping princesses. They live in a variety of habitats, from forests to coastlines to abandoned castles, usually in warm climates, and eat whatever living creatures they can find.

"Where does dragon fire come from" is one of the many questions that Pygmalion asked as a hatchling. When he found out that none of the dragons of Ferwe Weyr could really answer his question, he started to look into the matter himself. With the intelligence of his father Pyrskep and the physical bent of his mother Faulinia, Pygmalion knows more than any other dragon of the weyr about the nature of fire and energy and how they can be created and manipulated. His study of how various tools created fire led to a mating of true affection with Noewun.