Difference between revisions of "Wyrmhandler Guide"

How to Adopt

Adopting a new Wyrm can be done in a number of ways. However, we must note that you must be 18+ years of age or have your parent/guardian's permission to adopt or commission a Wyrm. Children under the age of 18 cannot legally enter into a contract, and thus must have parental consent before being able to make a purchase through HopefulMonsterStudios. The following is a list of ways to purchase Wyrms:

• Go to a convention: Visit a convention that Hopeful Monster Studios is attending (you can find a list HERE) and stop by our booth. Tea-Cup Wyrms are usually sold in a blind-draw - where you select an egg-charm, and you don't know exactly what Breed or Type of Wyrm you will be getting, but you have some idea about the colors. There is a bit of a gamble involved, because you never know exactly what you'll get with a Tea-Cup Wyrm, but we promise that they are all adorable! Larger Species are sitting out and just waiting for new owners.

• Watch us online: You can watch for updates and information through our Deviantart or Furaffinity groups. However, the best way to get the most recent information is to join our Forums. Active handlers who participate on the forums will have the first chance at tokens, Wyrms, and other online sales. Tea-Cup Eggs are usually sold on a first-come-first-serve basis when they are posted online. Clutches will most likely be posted to Etsy to handle sales, but some may be sold on Deviantart, Furaffinity, or the Forums. Like with the convention Tea-Cups, you won't know exactly what you're getting. Additionally, sometimes larger Species are sold individually, or auctioned through these groups.

• Breed a baby: During the breeding season, you can as people who already own Wyrms if they will breed their Wyrms together to make a new baby Wyrm for you. For more information on this, please see the tab on Breeding.

• Commission us: Rarely, Hopeful Monster Studios will open/auction commission slots, or waiting list slots. Watch our Deviantart or Furaffinity groups to keep an eye out for slots being opened. These are only for larger Species of Wyrms (sorry, you can't commission a Tea-Cup Wyrm), but it is a great way to get a custom creation from us. These slots are /highly/ sought after when they open, so please be aware that we cannot take every commission, and may refuse a commission if we choose.

Price Guide

Each type of Wyrm has two prices, depending on if it is a bred-baby or not. Bred Wyrms cost slightly more due to the extra work of having to chart the genetics of each Wyrm, as well as working with sometimes more complex combinations of Wyrm genes. The following are the current prices for each of the Wyrm Species. Please note that prices are subject to change depending on the cost of materials. Accepted payment types are: Paypal and Money Orders. If you don't have access to either of these payment methods, you should contact HopefulMonsterStudios prior to making a purchase to see if a different payment method can be arranged.

Convention Wyrm Prices

The following is an estimate of our 'off the shelf' Wyrms which we feature at conventions and online sales. If breedable, they have random genetics created by our sculpting team and are not taken as commissions or customs. Larger creations such as Standards and Great Wyrms are likely to be auction pieces, with the minimum starting bids represented below.

Breeding Season Wyrm Prices

Registration Process

Once you've adopted a Wyrm, the next thing to do is make sure they are registered. Registering allows you to show off your Wyrm collection, as well as to have all of their data collected so they are eligible to participate in the Breeding Season. You'll need to register with a Furaffinity or Deviantart account (Deviantart is preferred, so you have a chance to participate in CruinndracFarms events.) When you register, you can choose if you want to be a public breeder (if you want to be contacted by others during the breeding season), but keep in mind that the more Wyrms there are in the breedable population, the more fun the game is for everyone.

To register your Wyrm, have a link to their posted picture (with datacard) from our Deviantart, or have an image of your Wyrm uploaded so we can create a datacard for you. Click here and fill out the form: Registration Link
A list of registered wyrms can be found: Registry Link

Wyrm Terms

The following is a list of some common terms relating to Wyrms and Wyrmhandling:

• Clutch - A group of wyrms that is hatched together. An entire nest of eggs for adoption at conventions, or a group of eggs posted online, or the babies from a single breeding season, are all considered member of the same clutch.
• Clutchmates - Wyrms that are hatched in the same group/at the same time. Can also refer to siblings bred from the same parents.
• Species - Refers to the size of a given Wyrm. The current Species are, in order of size; Teacup, Mini (discontinued, but some still exist in the population), Standard, Great Wyrm, and Leviathan.
• Type - General catagory of Wyrm
• Breed - Specific catagory of Wyrm, this classification denotes what the rarity of the Wyrm is
• BroodWyrm/StudWyrm - Female or Male Wyrm that is part of the breeding population
• Squirm - A group of Wyrms that may or may not be related/clutchmates. This can refer to a handler's group of Wyrms, a number of Wyrms gathered with their handlers at a convention or event, or a group of Wyrms "in the wild."
• Squiggle - The motion by which most Wyrms move, which has been described by some as a combination of inchworm, snake, and ferret. Rapid squiggling often involves a sort of hopping, bouncing motion.
• Preening - Also known as grooming, this is often what a Wyrm will do to a prospective mate to gauge their interest. Extra long furred Wyrms spend quite a bit of time preening their fur, to prevent matting and knots and to keep themselves looking their best to impress potential mates.
• Floofing - The act of fluffing up ones fur to the maximum amount of poofiness, to make the Wyrm look larger. Typically an aggression or defensive behavior, males are often seen Floofing at each other when competing for the attention of a single female. Wyrms also Floof when startled or nervous.
• Meep/Merp - The word used to describe the most common Wyrm vocalization, which sounds like a bit like a chirp, followed by a purring noise. Other sounds include chittering, peeping, or growling.
• Whuffle - Considered an extreme act of trust/bonding with their handler, this is when a Wyrm goes nose to snout with their human handler and exchanges breath with them. Similar to cats snuffling and breathing at each other in close contact, it signifies a Wyrm's trust in their handler, and a feeling of safety and contentment, and affection.
• Heartmates - Two Wyrms that are "soulbonded" to one another. This is a VERY rare occurrence, and is noted on a Wyrm's info card by a half heart icon on the back of the card with a word inside. This word is a combination of the two Wyrm's soul-names, typically with the female's name first, followed by the male's. Once a Wyrm finds their Heartmate, any breedings with that mate will result in some special, random characteristics. It is worth noting that the Heartmate characteristic is NOT hereditary, nor is it a genetic trait that may be passed on. It is a very rare, totally random trait assigned to two Wyrms during their creation. These mates may be from the same clutch, or they may be from separate clutches. There is NO way of knowing ahead of time, and NO way of predicting which Wyrms will carry the trait. (IE, don't request, beg, complain, or whine that your Wyrm doesn't have this trait. Don't ask when your Wyrm's Heartmate will show up. Dont suggest what type/breed/color you'd like the Heartmate to be. This is a random assignment of a trait by HopefulMonsterStudios, and can NOT be forced/changed/influenced)

Trait List

Due to some Wyrms having quite a few different Traits, after August of 2012, Cruinndrac Farms switched to using some abbreviations for the Wyrm's traits. The following is a list of the current traits, their meanings, and their usual default values (if not a bred-baby).

NOTE: This page is a WIP (Work in Progress). Descriptions need to be approved by HopefulMonster before becoming official.

Repair Guide

This section is a WIP (Work In Progress). More information will be added later. For now, please check out this video regarding proper grooming and repairs for your Wyrm:

Breeding

There are multiple different breeding seasons in a year.

• Winter Breeding Season - Usually in late December. Dates can vary.
• Spring Farm Season - A season reserved for those with approved breed-stables. Usually around the Spring Equinox.
• Summer Breeding Season - Usually in mid-July. Dates can vary.
• Fall Farm Season - A season reserved for those with approved breed-stables. Usually around the Fall Equinox.

When a breeding season is approaching, Wyrm handlers should contact other handlers who have breed-able Wyrms to arrange Stud or Brood Wyrm agreements (See the tab for Stud/Brood Wyrms). Interested parties can also contact the handlers of Stud and Brood Wyrms they do not own and try to arrange a breeding to get an egg for themselves. Given that all Wyrms have a finite number of times they are able to be fertile, it's in a handlers best interest to plan their breedings carefully. Once a handler has found an appropriate mate for their Wyrm, the handler must contact Cruinndrac Farms, put in a breeding request, and pay the breeding/hatching fee. This is usually done by commenting on the journal post which announces the opening of the breeding season (this will be posted to both Furaffinity and Deviantart). Please do not contact us before the start of the breeding season.

At this time, Cruinndrac Farms will chart the genetics of both parent Wyrms, 'breed' the two together, and a new Wyrm will be hatched. The resulting offspring belongs to whomever pays the breeding fee, and will usually be hatched and shipped within one month of the breeding. Breeding season lasts for 1 week (7 days) and all breeding requests must be made within that time, or wait until the next breeding season. To ensure that all requests are legitimate, BOTH owners/handlers of the Wyrms involved in the breeding must confirm that they agree to the breeding. Wyrms must be Registered to be eligible to breed. To register your wyrm, please fill out the following form: Registration Link

Special cases:

• Twins - Twins are determined by a random roll of the dice. There is a chance with any tea-cup breeding of producing twins, but it is all up to luck.
• Clutchmates - In each breeding, both the Stud and Brood Wyrm owners can get a hatchling from the same pair. This only uses up one breeding for both parent Wyrms. The genetics of each hatchling will be determined separately. These will not be twins, but clutchmates and may have different colors and features. The owners may choose to have these Wyrms for themselves, or may choose to let someone else receive the clutchmate. Each person receiving a hatchling must pay a separate fee, however.
• Breeding "Up" - Normally, most Wyrms are bred to other Wyrms of their own Species (size). However, a Wyrm can be bred "up" one size. This means that one parent must be a larger Species of Wyrm and that the hatchling will also be the larger Species of Wyrm (with the higher cost). It is easier for us to produce larger, more detailed Wyrms than it is to transfer the details of a larger Wyrm to a smaller Species. Example: A Tea-cup Wyrm could bred up to a Standard. A Standard can be bred up to a Great Wyrm. (etc. etc.) Under some very special circumstances (Size Tokens, etc.) a Wyrm may be able to breed "up" more than one size, but this is quite rare.
• Minis and Mutts - Minis are a discontinued Species of Wyrm. The remaining Wyrms of this Species may be bred 'up' to a Standard, or 'down' to a Tea-Cup. In the case of the 'Mutt' Mini Variety, the genetics will be somewhat random when they are bred (based on appearance), and the result of any breeding with a 'Mutt' Wyrm will be another another of the 'Mutt' variety in one of the current Species (Tea-cup or Standard).

Genetics

This section is meant to describe a little bit about Wyrm genetics, and how you can selectively breed for certain colors that you're looking for, or get an idea of what sort of outcomes you would get from a breeding.

Each Wyrm has a six-letter genetic code. Let's begin with an example pair of Wyrms:

• Male Wyrm: rRyYbb (an orange wyrm).
• Female Wyrm: RRyybB (a reddish-purple Wyrm)

Each two-letter combination represents whether or not the Wyrm has dominant or recessive for a specific color. Dominant (upper-case letters) colors will show, where as recessive (lower-case letters) will not.

• r/R = Red
• y/Y = Yellow
• b/B = Blue

The colors mix like you would imagine that they would in the real world. If you have a Red and a Yellow, the Wyrm is orange. If you have Red and Blue the baby is Purple. Some special cases are listed below:

• rryybb = White
• RRYYBB = Black
• rRyYbB = Brown

When you consider the genetics of each Wyrm, the different color genes are evaluated separately. So, for our example pair above, when we look at their genes for red, we see that the Male Wyrm is (rR) and the Female Wyrm is (RR). When they are bred together, the genes are charted like this:

 -| r  -| R  -|
-+----+----+
R| rR | RR |
-|----+----+
R| rR | RR |
-|----+----+

So, you can see that there is a 50% chance of the baby being (rR), and a 50% chance of it being (RR). To determine the outcome, Hopeful Monster Studios will roll a four-sided die, and the outcome it lands on is the one you get. The same sort of charting is done for the Yellow, and Blue genes. The end result of the charting and dice rolling is a new genetic code for the baby Wyrm. In the case of our two parents, the babies would have any of the following genetics (based on chance):

• rRyybb (pink)
• rRyYbb (orange)
• rRyYbB (Brown)
• rRyybB (Purple)
• RRyybb (red)
• RRyYbb (red-orange)
• RRyYbB (red-brown)
• RRyybB (red-purple)

Exceptions:

• A genetically Black Wyrm (RRYYBB) will usually only breed a Black offspring if the other parent Wyrm is also Black (RRYYBB). It will not always show full dominance when bred with Wyrms who have other colors.
• There are a few traits which may change the way a Wyrm's color appears. The most common of these is the Dilute trait, which makes the Wyrm's primary color look pale/washed out/or white.

The same chart as shown above for color can be used to help determine traits.
You can also try to run a possible Wyrm pairing through our Wyrm Mixer to get possible results.

Stud/Brood Wyrms

Usually, it is as simple as asking the owner of another Wyrm if you can arrange a breeding with one of their Wyrms. For those with uncommon or rare types of Wyrms, however, the owner may wish to request a Stud or Brood Wyrm Fee to other handlers who wish to use their Wyrm for breedings. This is by no means required, and most people will be more than happy to arrange breedings with other Wyrm owners. Ideally, when there is a fee, it should be minor. It can be in the form of a small drawing, a story, some DA points, a couple of dollars... whatever you and the other handler agree is a fair trade for the use of your Wyrm. While we allow this as part of the game, we ask that handlers are not greedy. Please don't ask for unreasonable fees for the breeding of your Wyrms. Wyrm breeding is intended as a fun, interactive, and social game. It is not meant to be a method to rake your fellow handlers over the coals. Be nice to one another, have fun, and share the joy that getting a new Wyrm brings to every handler.

Please see the section in our Terms and Service on Stud/Brood Fees: LINK HERE

Crossbreeding

Cross-breeding occurs when a Wyrm is bred with another breed of Wyrm. For example: A Tea-cup "Leaf Crawler" (Common Forest Wyrm) can be bred to a Tea-Cup "Plumed Gem Hunter" (Common Forest Wyrm). The same "Leaf Crawler" can also be bred to a Tea-Cup "Angler Eel" (Marine Wyrm). The appearances of these cross-bred Wyrms are determined by their genetics just as with a normal breeding, producing a Hybrid Wyrm. Those who still fit under one of the major Breed types (such as a breeding between two Varieties of Common Forest Wyrms) remain as Cross-Breeds under their normal type listings. Those produced from two separate Breeds will be listed under a the Hybrid type.

Exception - Tesla Wyrms:
Due to the nature of Tesla Wyrms as clockwork creatures, they can only produce viable offspring with other Tesla Wyrms or Chainmail Wyrms. If they are bred with any other type of Wyrm, the breeding is used up, and the owner gets a creepy, dead, clockwork-hybrid fetus in a little jar (which is kind of neat in it's own right).

Zombies

Infected Wyrms are another special-case situation. Only 'pure' infected Wyrms (the first generation guys who were sold at 2012 Furfright, or online just afterwards) have the Infectious Bite (XX) characteristic. This allows them to BITE another Wyrm, infecting it with the virus that turned the original Wyrm into a Zombie. This will cause the bitten Wyrm to pass along this Virus to their next offspring. The virus will eventually run it's course (after one breeding), or can be cured using a bottle of special potion that each Infected's owner always carries with them just incase. So, to get a 'bred-baby' Infected, you need:

• A Stud Wyrm
• A Brood Wyrm
• An Infected to BITE one of the two parent Wyrms

Second-generation/offspring Infected Wyrms will not have the Infectious Bite (XX) trait, and will not be able to produce any further Infected Wyrms. As these Wyrms are undead, they cannot breed and are thus Sterile.

In general, the Species of the offspring Infected is determined by the parents in the usual way, with the exception that all Tea-Cup x Tea-Cup breedings will automatically be bred 'up' to a Mini-Wyrm Infected. The cost for these Wyrms is more than a regular breeding, so please check out the prices in the Wyrmhandler Guide or the FAQ.

Tokens

Tokens are special items that are sold at conventions or in our Etsy store at various times. These can be used to give special effects during a breeding.

• Breeding Token - Allows you to add an extra breeding to non-sterile Wyrm.
• Color Token - Allows you to choose one of the valid (possible) colors for your offspring.
• Glow Token - Guarantees that an offspring will show the glow-gene, so long as at least one of the parents is a carrier of the gene.
• Trait Token - Allows you to choose 'xx' 'xX' or 'XX for any single trait on the offspring.
• Double Horn Token - Allows a baby to have multiple types of horns, as long as they do not take up the same place on the wyrm. (combination horns have to be approved by CruinndracFarms staff).
  
  

The following are RARE tokens, which are sold in limited quantities:

• Size Token - Allows you to create an offspring up to two sizes larger or smaller than the parent. Smaller Wyrms will not be as detailed as their larger parents. Size tokens may not be used if any of the parents are considered a 'specialty' wyrm (ex. Royal, Seasonal, etc.)
• Gender Choice Token - Allows you to choose the gender of your Tea-Cup offspring.
• Baby Token - Allows a breeding to produce a tiny 'baby'-sized Wyrm (non-breedable).
• Gender Bender Token - Allows one parent Wyrm to change gender temporarily for the breeding. Half of the proceeds from these tokens go to frog conservation. (3-charges.)

Examples of the token icons used and available are below:

Walkthrough

Please note: The next breeding season opens at 12:00 Noon EST on December 27th. Stud/Brood forms may be submitted at any time, but actual breeding requests may not be made until the season officially opens. Any requests submitted prior to that date/time will be deleted.

The Breeding Request and Stud/Brood forms can be found here: FORM LINK

Please follow the instructions on the form. They will walk you through what you need to fill in. Some key things to remember, however:

• For every Wyrm you are receiving, you should be filling out a separate Breeding Request form.
• If you are NOT receiving a Wyrm from a breeding, but one of the parents belongs to you, you should be using the Stud/Brood form.
• If you have lost your handler PIN#, you can recover it here: http://cruinndracfarms.com/WyrmHandler/Handler_PIN.php
• You can find prices for all our products here: Price Guide.
• You must READ and AGREE to our Terms of Service.
• If you are under the age of 18, you will be asked for contact information for your parent/guardian. No underage purchases will be allowed without the consent of a parent/guardian.

Once you have submitted your requests, please allow up to 24-hours for your information to begin appearing on our Order Status Page.

• We will send an invoice asking for a deposit on your purchase to the e-mail address you provide, which can be paid for by Paypal, Credit Card, or Debit Card. You have 72 hours (3-days) to make an initial payment on your order.
• Once the order is confirmed, it's time to wait. It may take a few months to complete your order. You can continue to check your status on the status page.
• When your Wyrms are completed, we will send you a second invoice for the remainder of your purchase plus shipping. You will have 7 days to complete payment.
• Once full payment is complete, we send your new Wyrms out to you.