# DragonScale? What are they?



## Perlier (Dec 22, 2011)

Thanks for looking and/or responding. What does the term dragonscale mean? I bought 2 of the dragonscale betta at petsmart last night. Will the tails stay small like the plakets?
Thanks, Lisa


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Dragon scale bettas have a heavy build up of metallic on their scales. They can come in any tail type. I think pet-smart only sells male plakat dragon scales. 
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=3433

Do you have any pictures?


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## Perlier (Dec 22, 2011)

Oh ok Thanks! No pics yet. Plan to get some today, been have troubles with my other hobby, chickens. Got some that arent being nice to each other today and ive had them both out several times and have had one out at all times since maybe 11am lol. Ill get the pics after the chicks are separated and ive had dinner lol.


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

I know the PetSmart near me sells ones labeled "Dragonscale Betta" that all tend to me male and either plakat or halfmoon plakat. They sell halfmoon dragons labeled as halfmoons.

They do come in a variety of colors and tail types though.


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

I often wonder if there really is a "true" dragonscale... Mostly it seems a term thrown at any betta that is either silver or white, but i see people claim "Dragon" on fish of nearly every color, and everyone i look at has the same scales as any other Betta.

Supposedly the real dragonscale bettas have extra big white or silver scales, but i have yet to see one that is truly any different than a regular betta. I haven't really been looking tho.

But yes the ones at Petsmart are plakats and the fins will stay that size.


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## Perlier (Dec 22, 2011)

Thanks for the info. Im very happy with the one after he came outta the blue water, the second on changed way to much : ( Maybe he will get as blue as he was at the store with good nutrition. 


I saw this boy and knew I wasnt leaving with out him. : )










Not metallic at all and was bluer at the store : (


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

well the colors may change a bit while they get used to their new homes.


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

Yea, PetSmart's "Dragonscale Bettas" are more accurately considered plakat males (there was one that I thought may have been female, but upon closer inspection was definitely a male). Oftentimes they are dragonscales as well, but not always, and we've had some dragonscale halfmoons come in that were labeled as halfmoons.

Dragonscale isn't simply a metallic fish, but the scales are supposed to be thicker as well (easiest to tell on the gill plates) -- much like a dragon's scales are supposed to be thick. Color-wise a "true dragon" is supposed to have a white dragonscales on the body overtop of the base color, which shows in the fins. Apparently there has yet to be a "true dragon" with the blues -- they can have the thicker scales, but they won't have the white scales on the body.

Here's an article on dragonscales: http://www.bettaterritory.nl/BT-AABDragons.htm

It's a bit of a read, but I found it to be rather interesting myself.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Sometimes some of their normal halfmoons are dragons as well...

Dragons have thicker scales, or at least look thicker, and will have a metallic body. Though not all metalic bettas are dragons. If you look on Aquabid in the halfmoon section or halfmoon plakat section, you will see posts saying dragon... Or ...dragon have a look, it is much easier to see visually what a dragon looks like rather than through words.


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

I have some dragons I bought from a breeder. Here are a couple of pics. Please excuse finnage on my boy. Egil hurt himself getting past a divider.


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## Micho (Aug 22, 2011)

I'm pretty sure my guy is a Dragon.

._____.; He was labelled as a Metallic Imbellis, but after researching, he was just a regular Plakat. Then I stumbled onto Dragons and did more research, he seems like a Dragon.


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

Armand, the fish in my avatar, was sold to me as a dragon. I purchased him from a breeder. I've been doing some research on what a dragon is and I've boiled it down to two main features: metallic scales which appear distinct from each other, and fins brightly coloured or in contrast to the body colour. Some definitions also include white or powdery-looking scales, with the metallic scales mainly on the sides of the body. 

You can see in this pic that Armand has the metallic-blue body scales and pale-blue powdery looking scales on his head, along with contrasting blood-red fins. It's easier to see in person.










Here's one site with some concise definitions of betta colours: http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=1417


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## YoshesMom (Mar 15, 2011)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...bAQ&biw=1024&bih=395&sei=22-eT8vvHeSniALbyphY
Dragonscaling looks almost like armor over the base coloring thick and refined see how each individual scale is outlined and clearly visable....be careful of the "dragon's " at petsmart a lot are labeled as that but clearly are not.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Perlier said: I saw this boy and knew I wasnt leaving with out him. : )

Good you didn't. You scored. That's a fine looking animal, especially if his color shifts in changing light. 

Not a dragon,which are supposed to have white or pale blue scales. A metallic, certainly. Check with CopperArabian, the expert on 
copper/metallic/dragon style Betta.

A very beautiful color. I rather like it, myself. ;-}


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## Perlier (Dec 22, 2011)

Hallyx said:


> Perlier said: I saw this boy and knew I wasnt leaving with out him. : )
> 
> Good you didn't. You scored. That's a fine looking animal, especially if his color shifts in changing light.
> 
> ...


Thanks! Ive seen so many like him and had already wanted one his color. I love him to bits : D


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## Perlier (Dec 22, 2011)

Thank you all so much for the info! Im sure it will be really helpfull to me as I read through it. : )


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

that link just goes to anything tagged as dragonscale betta on google. so right and wrong ones if there even is such a thing. someone who knows needs to take a great picture of a dragon, and illustrate it on the features that make it qualify. While showing another picture that shows what doesn't. Because at this point we're throwing out colors again. well if it's white... well if it's metallic...

I'm not saying anything is or isn't but it doesn't seem like there is a true standard, and if there is, there's a small handful of people who know it, and a vast majority of people who think they do, but don't.

I don't mean that to offend people. But that's how it looks to me. You all have very beautiful fish regardless of what we call it.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ok the dragon coloring is often confused on here with any iridescent that has a mask.

Dragons have thick, white, metallic, coloring. Anything other than that is not a dragon. Blue scaled "dragons" are not dragons either. They are of a similar development but they're not dragons. 

Regardless there is no IBC sanction for "dragons". It's simply called metallic. 

This article should clear things up.

http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=3433


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

I posted a link on the first page to an article that explains it rather well, I think. Here it is again: http://www.bettaterritory.nl/BT-AABDragons.htm

From my understanding there are "true dragons" (with the white scales over the base color on the body) and there are Bettas that are technically dragons, because they have thicker scales, but aren't "true dragons" because those scales aren't white.

I know that's technically a matter of "color" but, from what I read, that's the difference between what the dragons were meant to be, what was originally aimed for, and a technicality, so to speak, that allows for colored dragons as well.


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

This is a good discussion! I guess in the end there's no rock-solid definition of what a dragon is, and different people have different opinions. 

I will continue to call Armand a dragon in my signature, simply because that's how the breeder classifies him. I call Voltaire a rose tail but I've seen pics of similar finnage that are classified as "feather tail". Again, the breeder's classification is what's in my sig. Here is Voltaire for reference:


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

Cattitude, I just want to say: you have very nice Bettas (though I'd like to see Jean-Luc, I'm curious what a wild-type CT looks like). I love the names as well, and Voltaire somehow really suits his name.


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

Thanks! I'm glad you like my bettas!

I saw a thread here about colours and they showed a betta that was the same colour as Jean-Luc. This one was listed as "wild type". 

Here is Jean-Luc. He is darker (and looks dark in this pic) but the same basic colour:


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

It's a little tough to tell, but he kind of looks a _lot_ like my Kostya. Here's a pic of him (at work there's a Betta that looks as though he could be his brother, it's crazy):


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

This blue colour scheme seems to be a natural betta colour, as it's so common. Jean-Luc does look like your Kostya in natural light, and I saw several like Jean-Luc when I was choosing him at the pet store. I guess "wild type" could be an accurate description of the colour.


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

Would you mind if I ask where you got him from? I'm kind of curious if the store you got him from and where I work (where I got Kostya from) might have the same supplier.


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

Sure! I got him from a Petsmart in Toronto, Canada.


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

Ah, I work at, and Kostya was bought at, a PetSmart down near the Pennsylvania border, so...really not that far from Toronto.

Now I wonder whether Canadian PetSmarts only use Canadian suppliers for their live animals...I may just have to check into that. (Admittedly I know nothing about transporting live animals over the border.)


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

MrVampire181 said:


> Ok the dragon coloring is often confused on here with any iridescent that has a mask.
> 
> *Dragons have thick, white, metallic, coloring. Anything other than that is not a dragon.* Blue scaled "dragons" are not dragons either. They are of a similar development but they're not dragons.
> 
> ...


^ ^ ^


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## Cattitude (Apr 19, 2012)

NoahG said:


> Ah, I work at, and Kostya was bought at, a PetSmart down near the Pennsylvania border, so...really not that far from Toronto.
> 
> Now I wonder whether Canadian PetSmarts only use Canadian suppliers for their live animals...I may just have to check into that. (Admittedly I know nothing about transporting live animals over the border.)


A lot of our pet shops get their tropical fish from farms in the southern US, Florida for example. Since Petsmart is an American-owned chain, it wouldn't surprise me if our fish are shipped across the border as well. They just need the right permits to do it. I am not aware of any large-scale pet fish farming operations up here.


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## NoahG (Oct 24, 2011)

If that's the case...then I wonder if the Toronto store and my store have the same supplier. It just seems too coincidental that they would look so similarly -- and it looks as though Jean-Luc also has a thicker look on his fins, am I right?

I guess I'd be surprised if they came from completely different places. I mean, I know the royal blues with red wash are common, so perhaps I'm wrong here and the dark, metallic blues with dark red wash are just as common. Though...according to my pet care manager there's only a few suppliers/distributors that PetSmart uses.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

"There have been reports of red and black dragons with a bluish shine on their scaling....."

From the above referenced article.


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