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.

Pygmy dragons are the smallest breed of true dragons, being the size of a small cat. They are often found around concentrated populations of dragons, relying on their larger brethren to ward away potential predators and to leave generous scraps. As such, the majority of a pygmy's diet is scavenged, though they do hunt songbirds and small mammals when the pickings are slim. Due to their tiny size, pygmies do not breed with other varieties of dragons, but select mates within their breed.

Kogata Tanebi's name means something to the effect of "tiny ember."  He is a diminutive guy with a lot of spirit.  Tanebi interacts the most with the smaller dragons such as the mints, and has a fast friendship with Tenchi the paper dragon.  However, the entire cave community knows and looks out for this small creature, and he often flits around the larger ones as they go about their business.  He is thankfully fast enough to avoid an accidental crushing, and in exchange for food scraps and protection he provides a valuable service to the larger dragons.  That is, he uses his tiny paws to remove ticks, burrs, pebbles and other irritants from his larger brethren's hides.  It is quite a job, but the dutiful Tanebi never balks at helping out.