Since the very beginning of the game, players are granted a free dragon during The New Student by hatching one of the primary starter Dragons in The Hatchery. These starters are Deadly Nadder, Hideous Zippleback, Gronckle, and Monstrous Nightmare. Before January 3rd, 2020, v3.5.0, there were also Membership Starters. These were the Skrill, Thunderdrum, and Whispering Death.
When Stable Missions were released, the New Student was updated in v2.3.0 to include the secondary starter Dragons that shuffle randomly between the Flightmare, Rumblehorn, Sand Wraith, and Shockjaw each time the player starts a new game. This allowed players to do Stable Missions as it requires at least two Dragons.
Avatar bonding with a Shockjaw
Avatar bonding with a Deadly Nadder
Since June 6th, 2014, v7.1, players can train as many dragons as they wish as long as they have enough Stable slots, of any trainable, released species they desire. Dragons are obtainable in different ways, the most common and used way to obtain them is by hatching eggs. Dragon Eggs can be obtained from purchasing them at the Store, rewarded from Quests, and rewarded from Mystery Chests.
Some Dragons are obtained differently, Special Dragons such as Toothless and Light Fury are only obtainable with Membership, specifically with 3 Months or higher, or with Trial. Night Lights are Limited Time, meaning they can only be bought if they're available at the Store for a temporary period of time. Variants of some Dragons such as Elder Sentinel and Smitten Hobgobbler are exclusive to the Expansion Packs - these can also reward a Dragon already grown up or at Teen age.
