Basic questions about soft shell:
Source
Q: Can my egg or hatchling die of soft shell/hatchling sickness?
A: Yes, that's why it is called a sickness and there is a guide on how to cure it.
Q: Can an egg hatch/a hatching grow up while it has the disease?
A: Yes, but you still want to try to cure it to prevent the dragon from dying from the disease before it hatches/grows up.
Q: How do I know if my egg has soft shell?
A: It's easy. A message gets added below the description of the egg:
A similar message appears under a sick hatchling talking about how the dragon isn't eating and isn't moving around.
My egg has soft shell! What kind does it have?
There are two different types of soft shell, it's important to know which you have to be able to treat them. Once you have determined the form you have, look at the cures and preventions for that same form, marked by the letter.
A. More clicks than unique views.
B. Too many views too fast. This happens most often on the first day as an egg or hatchling, but can happen at any time. If your ratios are otherwise healthy and you actually have some views and the like you have this kind of soft shell.
How do I cure my soft shell?
Each type of soft shell has a different treatment:
A. Remove the link part of the code, only posting the image. This will prevent people from giving it any more clicks until the ratio is fixed. This kind of soft shell can heal itself, so it is not so important to treat as long as the ratio is not very bad. If the ratio is 0/0/1 or 0/0/0, just post it somewhere. NEVER hide your dragon if it has this kind of soft shell.
CODE
How you get the code when you copy it from the "getcode" page:
How the code looks when only posting the image:
(the "a" in "image" is replaced with "@" to prevent the filter, do not put that in the real code)
B. Hide the egg for at least a day. Often eggs with this kind of soft shell already have enough views to hatch, so you can hide it for a few days and it will hatch fine.
Now I know how to cure the soft shell, but how do I prevent it from happening again?
Prevention is very simple once you know how.
A. This is most often caused by clicking your egg right after you get it before it gets any views. It can also be caused by giving a direct link to the egg rather than posting the image. Also, if you don't get the code from the "get code" area and end up with a code that looks like Hkg3/1.gif (bad) rather than Hkg3.gif it can cause this. If it has /1 before the.gif the image will not give views when loaded, and so the egg will not be getting views, just clicks. This goes with linking directly to the egg in being the cause of many of the severe cases.
B. Wait for a day or so before posting a new egg if this tends to happen to your eggs. Experiment to find the amount of down time that is right for your eggs, but a day or so is usually good. Remember to try to not get more than 400 views on your first day, 200 or less is best.
Once you have adults: Same source as the Q&A above
Q: I got a male dragon, can I also get a female dragon?
A: Yes, most types of dragons can be either male or female. However, there are a few dragons that can only be one gender.
Q: I released my adult dragon/frozen hatchling. Can someone else pick it up?
A: No, released dragons are not available for others to grab, they go to the wilderness.
Q: How do you breed dragons?
A: The "Breed" action is available on the actions menu for adult, breedable dragons. If you click it, you will be presented with a list of eligible dragons of the opposite gender from your own scroll. Select one of those and breeding will be attempted. Breeding is not always successful, however, and may fail to produce an egg. It it is successful, it may produce up to 4 eggs. If multiple eggs are produced, then you must select one egg to keep and the rest will be abandoned for others to take.
Q: My dragons bred and produced multiple eggs, but I didn't select one. What will happen?
If you don't select which egg to keep within an hour, all but one will be automatically abandoned. If you close the selection page without choosing an egg, all of the eggs will appear on your account page as "held eggs." You can choose one to keep by clicking its "Get Code" link.
Q: Why can't I breed?
A: You cannot breed more than once every week per dragon (Both males and females). You also cannot breed if you don't have any eligible dragons of the opposite gender. Remember that a failed breeding still counts as a breeding and you have to wait a week to try again. Also, the dragon breed with two heads can only breed with dragons of that same breed.
Q: My breeding failed. Will that pair ever breed?
A: The only breeding message that means the pair is incompatible is the message of "the dragons refuse to go near each other". The rest of the messages are simply a fail for that attempt.
Q: Do I still need to get views/unique views/clicks for my adult to survive?
A: No, once a dragon reaches adulthood, it is able to fend for itself and will only die if you kill it yourself or if it is discovered that you are breaking the rules (Such as an offensive/inappropriate name or description). You should note, however, that dragons need to be viewed at least once per eight weeks or their names will be removed due to inactivity. Viewing your scroll from the dragcave.net/account page does not count as a view to keep the name, while viewing it from the dragcave.net/yourusername does count.
Q: What happens if an Adult Dragon dies?
A: It is replaced by a tombstone graphic. The tombstone will be removed from your scroll two weeks after death, similar to dead eggs.
Q: Is there a limit to the number of dragons you can have on your scroll?
A: No, there is no limit to the number of dragons you can have on your scroll.