Pargulus Pygmy

Pargulus Pygmies were released on May 21, 2020, as part of Dragon Cave's 14th birthday celebration. This breed has three colored variants, which are determined by biome of origin.

Like all pygmies, their eggs cannot be bitten by Vampire Dragons and they can only breed with other pygmy breeds.

Official descriptions[]

Egg[]

This tiny egg resembles a seed.

Hatchling[]

Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It keeps bringing you all sorts of foraged foods.

Mature hatchling[]

Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It keeps bringing you all sorts of foraged foods.

And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.

Adult[]

Pargulus Pygmies can often be found tending to plants and foraging for food. They like to care for other living things, be it plant or animal, and will often leave the food from their foraging trips outside the dens of those who need it or even just those they think could use a treat. These colorful little dragons are especially attentive to anyone who might be struggling to find food themselves, such as the elderly, the sick, or the very young. Pargulus pygmies have a surprisingly large range considering their small size. They have been known to travel far and wide to find food to bring back to their friends.

Sprite artists[]

Hawaiianbabidoll (All)
Verridith (All)

Sprites[]

Series	Egg	Hatchling	Mature hatchling	Adult
Blue variant Female
Blue variant Male
Green variant Female
Green variant Male
Red variant Female
Red variant Male

Egg sequence[]

Stage 0	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5	Dead

Retired sprites[]

Temporary event sprites
Series	Egg	Hatchling	Mature hatchling	Adult
April Fools' Day 2022 Blue female	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Blue male	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Green female	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Green male	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Red female	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Red male	–	–	–

Variant determination[]

The color variant of a cave-born Pargulus Pygmy is determined by its biome of origin, with each variant occuring in two biomes. Pargulus eggs produced by breeding or purchased from the market will be a random variant.

Variant		Biome
	Blue variant	Occurs in the Alpine and Coast.
	Green variant	Occurs in the Desert and Jungle.
	Red variant	Occurs in the Forest and Volcano.

Encyclopedia entry[]

Show/Hide Entry

Appearance/Basic Anatomy

Hatchling fur is airy and fluffy, covering most of their body when they’re young.
Hatchlings grow into their fur. As they get older, their fur smooths down and covers less of their form.
Skin is smooth where there is no fur.
Opposable thumbs on both hands and feet allows even young dragons to grab, hold, and carry things with ease.
Main spikes of their crest curve slightly inward and have a very small spike just below their base. Cheeks have a pair of small spikes each.
Coloration varies on location, often sharing similiar ^[sic] colors to local fruits.
Resistant to many toxic plants.

Hatchling Behavior

Even fresh hatched Pargulus appear to be incredibly curious.
Young hatchlings should be monitored, as they have a habit of putting everything in their mouths.
Foraging instinct starts young. Gardening considered a play activity.
Babies are more likely to be seen walking on two legs.
Older Pargulus prefer to walk on all fours unless they are carrying something.
Young pargulus ^[sic] like to be in the company of other hatchlings. Once they have wings, they begin to stray farther from the group during play.

Adult Behavior

These dragons thrive in social groups and help each other to survive. Elders who can no longer forage for themselves are tended to by younger individuals.
Pargulus will often nurture the land, fertilizing the ground around their favorite plants, clearing weeds, and tending to the area to increase the harvest.
Pargulus give gifts of their favorite foods to show affection
Regardless of gender, Pargulus exhibit a strong instinct to care for hatchlings of any species. Even hatchlings bigger than themselves.
Generally do not display territorial behavior nor hunting behavior.
Pargulus often befriend larger breeds of dragons and can be seen resting on them when they aren’t foraging or tending to the plant life.

Habitat

These little dragons can be found in any environment that can support fruit bearing vegitation ^[sic].
Started to be spotted more frequently in arid locations due to farming.
They forage over a large range to ensure their feeding grounds can sustain both themselves and their gift giving habits.

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of vegitation ^[sic] with a favoritism towards fruit, but they have been known to eat eggs, and on very rare ocassions ^[sic], scavenged meat.
Develop their resistance to toxic plants when they’re young and in their “stick everything in their mouth” stage.

Additional information[]

“

- They weren't originally going to come in multiple flavors. After testing out some palettes, I was struggling to narrow it down to one. So after asking some opinions, I narrowed it down to 3 instead.
- Their name comes from a combination of the latin words for 'little' and 'gatherer'
- Citrus trees grow well in the desert and the tropics, peaches in volcanic soil and temperate climates, and berry bushes along the coast and in valleys.

- The plural of Pargulus is Pargulus.

– Hawaiianbabidoll^{(Forum Post)}