Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It blends into the snow.

And look! It has gotten bigger. It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. They are born with relatively soft scales, which are shed and replaced with harder ones as the hatchling matures. Once a hatchling’s wings grow in, it typically marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own and are usually left alone by their mother.

Cactus' hatchling fluff, usually soft as feathers to warm and protect him from the icy coldness of his home, somehow is not fluffy at all. Instead it sticks out in hard frozen tufts and spikes, making it very hard for adult dragons (and fellow hatchlings) to cuddle up with this little dragon. He acts all tough about it and claims it's the best advantage he could wish for in play fights, but when night falls and he sees his friends sneak under their mothers' wings, he secretly wishes he could be a bit less special.