I have the impression that Ducky is the most warmhearted and socially competent of the whole group. Cera could have never adopted Spike for the racism of her family. Littlefoot would have liked to play with other young dinosaurs and I would not put it totally beyond him to adopt Spike, but it would not have seemed as fitting. Lacking any siblings he may have missed them less than Ducky. Moreover he too was taught that everyone stick to the own kind because "it has ever been that way".
Neither Ducky, nor Petrie seem to have been exposed to any such racism as neither of them showed ANY hesitation whatsoever to befriend with Littlefoot and Cera (I think it was mentioned in the
thread on the question whether or not the racism in LBT is a particular longneck / threehorn problem). We know very little about Petrie's family, but it is likely that he may have had some problems to get along with his siblings so long he was the only one unable to fly and therefore it may be that he did not miss his siblings quite as much as Ducky did. Also Petrie is very shy and cautious. He is more of a follower less likely than Ducky to take the responsibility of a adopting a brother. Moreover once he did learn to fly it would have been harder for Spike to live along with Petrie's family (can you imagine him climbing up to and down from Petrie's family's nesting place?
).
A somewhat conservative interpretation is also that a female like Ducky would have much stronger "mother instincts" than most male dinosaurs. And last but not least there is the fact that it was her who found Spike's egg and helped him hatch. Would it not have seemed a bit strange if Spike had been adopted by a different family after all they went through during their later journey (Ducky and Spike stuck closer to each other than most of the others did)? If Spike had been adopted by some Spiketail family it might have seemed almost like a latent support of that "everyond stick to the own kind" point of view.
One land before time book suggests that Cera was opposed to taking Spike along and it is not unlikely that such a scene was created. We know with absolute certainty that a scene set right after Spike's hatching existed, but was cut (while a picture from that scene was still displayed in cinema showcases).
This is the scene described in that book:
The next morning the four of them trudged on across the barren land. When the bright circle was high in the sky, Ducky came upon a next with one unhatched egg lying among broken shells. Strange sounds were coming from the egg - snoring, then yawning. Ducky gave a cry of delight and tapped the egg. It started to crack open. A sleepy head appeared. Ducky quickly peeled away the rest of the shell, and there stood a sleepy-eyed spike-tail.
"You are a spike-tail, so I will call you Spike," Ducky said.
The rest of the group came running up. "This is my new friend, Spike," said Ducky. "Can we take him with us? Huh? Huh?"
"He'll slow us down," said Cera. "All spike-tails can do is eat and burp. Sharptooth will catch up and eat us!"
"No more dumb stories," Littlefoot said sternly.
"I'm telling the truth!" Cera cried.
Over Cera's protests Spike joined the group.
On the matter of Spike's adoption the book says:
It wasn't long before they all found their families again, except for Spike. But he was quickly adopted by Ducky's family when she explained that he was her friend forever, yep, yep.
In one German land before time book from 1989 there is a reference to the aid Ducky gave to Spike during the journey. This is what the book say plus the translation:
M¸de und ausgehungert stapfte die kleine Schar voran. Spike, der Stegosaurier, hielt allein mit Duckys Hilfe durch. Sie wu?te, da? in seinem Kopf nur ein einziger Gedanke Platz hatte: Futter! So brach sie an jedem Rastplatz heimlich irgendeinen kˆstlich duftenden Zweig und lockte Spike damit immer weiter, ¸ber Berg und Tal, wohin die sinkende Sonne sie f¸hrte.
Tired and hungry the little group trudged on. Spike the stegosaurus kept up only with Ducky's help. She knew that there was room for just one though in his head: fodder! So she secretly broke some deliciously smelling twig at every resting place and used it to lure Spike ever on over mountains and through valleys through which the setting sun was guiding them.
On the matter of Spike's adoption it shows a picture of Spike's adoption but the text just says:
An einem der zahllosen Seen fand Ducky ihre Eltern und Geschwister wieder. Und auch Spike sollte wieder ein neues Zuhause finden.
At one of the countless lakes Ducky found her parents and siblings. And Spike too was to find a new home again.
One book from 1994 actually suggests that Spike did find his real family again. That book reads:
Spike mu?te auch nicht lange nach seiner Familie suchen. Er nahm die Spur auf die seine Br¸der und Schwestern, sein Vater und seine Mutter hinterlassen hatten: Er folgte den kahlgefressenen B‰umen und Str‰uchern im Gro?en Tal. Als er seine Familie gefunden hatte machte er nicht viel Worte. Er gesellte sich zu ihnen und fra? sich erst einmal richtig satt.
Spike didn't have to look long for his family either. He followed the trail which his brothers and sisters, his father and his mother had left: he followed the grazed trees and bushes in the Great Valley. When he found his family he didn't speechify. He joined them and first of all ate his fill.
