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.

Gold dragons are the ones most often killed by humans, who consider their scales to be extremely valuable. These golden scales grant them a high level of protection, similar to armor, and they use this to their advantage in battle.

While most of the dragons in Shield Tail and Dark Drakon's herd possess magical powers, Solar Sunbeam only employs magic that's powered by the sun.  It is unknown if she personally chose it to be that way or she is unable to utilize other forms of magic.  Regardless of the reason, because Solar Sunbeam's magical abilities are fueled by the sun, she is much stronger during the day than she is night.  Her best friend is Lunar Moonbeam, and while they are unable to breed with one another, they still regard each other as mates.