Cheese Dragons are not actually alive. They are enchanted items of food that act almost identically to dragons. They have no need to eat, but they must “live” in humid environments or they will dry out and harden.

Smiling Gouda does not actually talk, but spends his time smiling benevolently at the dragons around him. This baffles nearly all the dragons of the Cave, though everyone tries to get a response out of him at least once. The only ones who seem unaffected by Gouda's grinning silence are the hatchlings, who swarm over to him every day. And if one or two of the little darlings takes a discreet nibble or three, well, Gouda only ever beams at them in approval. It's their little secret.