During their growth cycle all dragons go through four different developmental stages.
Although a 5th stage – Ascendance – is being discussed in the forums.

At first they are eggs which then hatch into hatchlings (or first stage hatchlings). These hatchlings then turn into matured hatchlings (or second stage hatchlings) and finally grow into their adult form. There are no limits to how many dragons you can keep on your scroll but there is a limit to how many eggs and unfrozen hatchlings you can have at one time.
The base limit is four eggs and eight hatchlings, this changes with the increasing amount of dragons on a users scroll and their following trophy level:

Dragons		Trophy	Limit
1 - 50 dragons	→	No badge	4 eggs-12 total
51 - 200 dragons	→	Bronze badge	5 eggs-15 total
201 - 500 dragons	→	Silver badge	6 eggs-18 total
501+ dragons	→	Gold badge	7 eggs-21 total

The first number is how many eggs you may have at one time. The second number refers to the total number of growing dragons you can have. This means you could have (with no trophy, as an example): 4 eggs and 8 hatchlings or 3 eggs and 9 hatchlings or 2 eggs and 10 hatchlings or 1 egg and 11 hatchlings or 0 eggs and 12 hatchlings. If you have 4 eggs, you can still hunt for hatchlings until you've hit 12 total growing things. This limit can be taken up by dragons grabbed from the cave, the AP (abandoned page) or bred from your own scroll. There is no "secret" or "extra" slot available anymore. The egg limit posted here is the full egg limit available to you.

Previously, there was no benefit to badges, and you could have 4 eggs/8 total. Plus, you could breed a fifth egg making it 5 eggs/9 total.

Egg StageEdit

At this point you are starting out to get views for your egg to hatch. You have 7 days in which to collect sufficient views for your egg. For more information on raising your dragon, see this article. While in this stage, you have the following options for you to perform on your egg which are accessed from the Actions menu:

Kill: This kills the egg or attempts to force it. Forcing an egg means that when you feel your egg has collected sufficient views to be able to hatch well but you want it to hatch then and there, you can use this option to force your egg. It may however, end up killing your dragon. There is a limit to the amount of times you can use this action in a certain period of time.

Abandon: This abandons your egg, sending it to the abandoned page where other people can claim it for themselves.

Hide: Also known as fogging. This surrounds your egg in a blanket of fog, preventing it from receiving views, unique views and clicks and completely isolates it from the outside world. However, the time on your egg's life will still decrease with this option turned on. You can use this option to help cure your dragon from sickness.

Egg SequenceEdit

When an egg is hatching, it displays a cracking sequence. Most eggs follow the same cracking sequence, but some eggs have unique cracking sequences, such as some of the ones listed below.

Every egg cracking sequence has 5 stages of cracks, gradually getting bigger until a hole forms.

Dragon	Stage 0	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5	Characterization
Ember Dragon							While cracking it looks more and more like a piece of live coal
Magma Dragon							It seems like molten lava is coming through the stone like egg shell
Paper Dragon							The egg looks like it's peeled open
Pygmy Dragon							Common cracking for all pygmy eggs
Shadow Walker Dragon							Common sequence, but the egg fades while going through the different stages
White Dragon							This cracking sequence is used by most of the other dragon eggs
Winter Magi Dragon							Common sequence, but the snow falls off of the egg while it cracks

Hatchling StageEdit

At this point your egg has just hatched and you now have 7 days to collect sufficient views for it to mature and grow up. Once a dragon matures, its sprite will change a bit and it will receive a gender. Also, new text will be added to its description. Frozen hatchlings are hatchlings who have had the Freeze action performed on them. They will remain a hatchling forever and so the time limit on them vanishes, yet they still only have the same following actions available to them, with the added 'Describe' action (explained in Adult Stage). While in these stages, you have the following options for you to perform on your hatchling which are accessed from the Actions menu:

Kill: This kills the hatchling. There is a limit to the amount of times you can use this action in a certain period of time.

Freeze: This permanently freezes your hatchling so it stays hatchling forever rather than growing up. Be careful as you cannot go back once you make this choice nor will the option to undo it ever become available as it will be abused by members as a 'pause' type of feature. There is a limit to how often a user can use this action in a certain period of time.

Name: Give your dragon a name. Once this is done, your hatchling cannot be abandoned anymore. You may change the name at any time and any number of times if you spell it wrong or dislike it.

Abandon: This abandons your hatchling, sending it to the abandoned page where other people can claim it for themselves.

Hide: Also known as fogging. This surrounds your hatchling in a blanket of fog, preventing it from receiving views, unique views and clicks and completely isolates it from the outside world. However, the time on your hatchling's life will still decrease with this option turned on. You can use this option to help cure your dragon from sickness.

Adult StageEdit

At this point, your dragon is finally an adult. It can breed, have a description and there is no more time or amount limits of any sort for adults. You now have the following options for you to perform on your dragon which are accessed from the Actions menu:

Kill: Kill your dragon. There is a limit to the amount of times you can use this action in a certain period of time.

Release: This releases your dragon into the Wilderness. It will lose its name and never be owned by a person again but will still remain alive. This is a more humane way of removing an unwanted dragon from your scroll rather than killing it.

Name: If you have not yet used this feature, it will still be available. This is to give your dragon a name. If you decide you dislike the name, you may change it at anytime and any number of times.

Describe: Give your dragon a description. This description will be added to your dragon's page under their breed description. You can write anything you want concerning your dragon but the description must first be approved by a moderator before it can appear on your dragon's page (this will happen over time).

Breed: Breed your dragon with another dragon, producing up to four eggs. Recent updates have led to a maximum of one egg being produced if any, except for Holiday dragons in their respective seasons.