Dragon egg size

[Jackarandajam]

say a 100' dragon.

Lizards are weird, but just knee jerk numbers:

Komodo dragons get to be about 10' and have four inch eggs. (40" 100' dragon egg)
Saltwater crocs get to be about 20' and have 2-3" eggs (10"-15" 100' dragon egg)
Titanosaurus Blanforti got to be about 60' long and had 8" spherical eggs according to random pictures and articles on the internet. (13-ish" eggs for a 100' Dragon)

I know it's a preference thing mostly, but just interested if anyone has done research into this question or is aware of a resource justifying different sizes or types of egg for different dragons.

seems to me that egg size depends mostly on how helpless the hatchling is; the bigger the egg in ratio to the adult, the more capable the hatchling is.

 

[LieutenantWolf34]

The most I have seen is that the bigger the dragon who has laid the egg the bigger the egg in general.

 

[pmmg]

I would think a comparable dino egg would be an acceptable measure. Maybe a little larger, and a bit heaver, for the wings and armor like scales.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Some more research:
Komodo dragons take about 9 years to mature to full 10ft. 4" egg.
Crocodiles can take up to 20 years to mature to full 20ft. 2-3" egg.
Pure speculation here, but you could either say a foot a year and give dragons a hella long maturing period, or shorten the maturation rate by making the egg larger.

Green Anoles and Komodo Dragons are both born at 1/6 their mature size; that for a 100' dragon would mean a 40" egg at least at around a 15' hatchling.
The same ratio doesn't apply to crocodiles though, so it isn't a hard and fast rule.

That ratio being smaller would suggest a slower growth rate though, I think.

Just some world building fun.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Also komodo dragon eggs are very elongated, more like a snake egg.
Gotta admit, a 3 foot snake egg lookin thing SOUNDS like a pretty accurate dragons egg. Unwieldy for plot stuff though

 

[pmmg]

Well. My image of a dragon egg is probably about the size of a large watermelon. Though i would think unexpectantly heavy. But no scientific reason for it.

 

[Jackarandajam]

I do like the spherical idea though. Makes it seem more magical.
Sometimes you get tiny spherical eggs from chickens. In medieval times they called them "cock eggs" and they were thought to be the result of witchcraft. They actually have a record of a rooster being hanged over it.

Must be hard to hang something with hollow bones and wings.

 

[pmmg]

Spheres would be cool, and leave open that they are mistaken for something else. I wonder though, it there is not some evolutional reason for egg shapes. Perhaps the more oval shape does not roll away from the nest as easily or such, that would make dragons eggs kind of in that camp.

Course, no self respecting Dragon mama does not know how to nest her eggs, so....

 

[Jackarandajam]

Spheres would be cool, and leave open that they are mistaken for something else. I wonder though, it there is not some evolutional reason for egg shapes. Perhaps the more oval shape does not roll away from the nest as easily or such, that would make dragons eggs kind of in that camp.

Course, no self respecting Dragon mama does not know how to nest her eggs, so....

The Dino eggs that were spherical seem to be the herbivore Long Necks, (not looking up the Latin so resorting to Land Before Time), so yeah, big ground-laid, probably very thick shelled eggs.
The Sharp Tooths all generally laid the elongated eggs, I think, but I'm sure I'm over-simplifying.
Long animal - long egg seems reasonable, but yeah, the idea of making dragon eggs these giant unwieldy bowling ball things appeals to me. Maybe different types of dragon lay different shaped eggs?
How does an egg learn to do better, anyway?

 

[Finchbearer]

Is your dragon more bird like or more reptilian? Reptile eggs are more rounded, bird eggs are more oval. If a female dragon the size of Smaug laid an egg, I would imagine it to be the size of my car.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Our dragons average about 45ft long, depending on type (sea dragons get much larger but they also don't come out of the water much) and females can choose between laying eggs and giving live birth. If a female is feeling insecure, she'll lay an egg in the hope that if something should happen to her, her baby will survive.

Dragons can be born in either human form or "on the wing," and/or "in scales," in other words in draconic form - our dragons aren't lizards just like dinosaurs aren't - and both forms are about the same size, so we're going to picture an egg large enough to hold a tucked tight human newborn at hatching. This gives us an ovoid egg no more than 16 inches long and on the round side. Shell colors can vary.

Shells are always hard at hatching. Dragons born in draconic form have an egg tooth and can break themselves out, considered an auspicious sign. Dragons born in human form need some help. Girls are favored over boys and are gifted twice as much treasure at birth. Dragon numbers are threatened, and females are needed to maintain and increase their population.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Is your dragon more bird like or more reptilian? Reptile eggs are more rounded, bird eggs are more oval. If a female dragon the size of Smaug laid an egg, I would imagine it to be the size of my car.

I'm a pretty big fan of the old school giant, manipulative, greedy, flying, fire breathing bad guy lizard dragons.
Thinking about doing some wild, more animal-like dragons to mix it up. More pteradon-like cliff dwellers, wingless rock dragons... maybe a desert snake thing.

The old school ones are going to have been carefully bred with magic by warlocks in ancient history

 

[pmmg]

I would imagine it to be the size of my car.

Try dragging that home after the adventure.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Try dragging that home after the adventure.

Let's say they float! So you could ride it home, perched cross-legged on top, pushing yourself along with a stick. I really like that mental image

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Let's say they float! So you could ride it home, perched cross-legged on top, pushing yourself along with a stick. I really like that mental image

We've got a second, epic fantasy, series in development right now. Challenge accepted!

 

[Jackarandajam]

We've got a second, epic fantasy, series in development right now. Challenge accepted!

YAAY! Strong Old Monkey/Nimbus vibes on that.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Dragon eggs do whatever the writer in questions want them to do. including size/shape.
It's a silly reference but Monster Hunter has you collecting eggs of Wyverns (basically monsters that are all classified as some kind of dragons)
Most of the eggs are about the size of an average human and shaped like an ostrich egg. Given how strong the hunter characters are in these games, they still take quite a bit of effort to lift and transport.

 

[BiggusBeardus]

This is from an old D&D book, but maybe it can help you.

https://imgur.com/TX0rPr6

 

[pmmg]

Just goes to show, those RPG books have a lot of info in them that sometimes come in handy.

But the chart is incomplete. Where is the large and XL, and XXL?

 

[Finchbearer]

That’s egg-cellent, but if we’re looking real world stats here is a great article that cracks the case, that could also be applied to dragon eggs.