Black Dragon

Black dragons were part of the original group of dragons first released on the site in 2006. They are one of a select few breeds (Vine Dragons and Sweetlings being the others) to possess an "alt" (alternate forms of the same species). Alts of any breed are rare. With the exception of Honourable mention prizes distributed in 2011 and TJ's cave born Thuweds, alts can only be obtained from bred eggs. All glitches producing Cave Born alts in previous years have since been fixed.

Black alt hatchlings come in both sitting and curled varieties, though both types grow up into the standard Black alt adult (see below). The rarity of these two hatchling forms changes periodically, so many users choose to freeze the hatchlings in order to prove they have had both. Prior to mid-November 2008, eggs for alts and regulars were slightly different, allowing the user to tell before hatching whether or not the dragon was an alt. However, this has been changed, and now users must wait for eggs to hatch to reveal this. At one point, Black eggs did not have a green glow, but this was added to the egg sprite in January 2009.

Prior to Dimorphism, the only sprite used for common Blacks was the one currently used for males.

Users often play the "Alt Lottery", where they catch a Black egg and raise it until it hatches. They have no intention of keeping it if it turns out to be of the normal variety and abandon any normal hatchlings. Only one of the two possible alt hatchlings is available at a time (both result in the same adult and different hatchling sprites tend to be desired so players can freeze each for collecting purposes). There is a theory that breeding a common black dragon with a rare (i.e, a gold, silver, or one of the three legendary dragons) will give slightly higher chances of producing an alt, but this has not been proven.

Official Dragon Description
Adult:

"Black dragons are warriors. They are strong and capable in battles of force, but also ample magic users, capable of devastating opponents with their spells. Their bright eyes give them excellent night vision, which is why they generally hunt during the night."

Matured Hatchling:

"Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals. And look! It's grown its wings! It must be close to maturing."

Hatchling:

"Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals."

Egg:

"This egg has a faint green glow around it."

Normal

 * Silverdrak (Adults & Hatchlings)

Alt

 * Kitoxa - (Both Hatchlings, Adult)
 * Shikaru (Sitting Hatchling)

Sprites
Old egg sprites: (regular) /  (alt) →  (January 2009 revision)

2011 Temporary Holiday Sprite: