Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It has shiny fish-like scales and loves water.

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.

An elusive and quiet creature, few have ever caught more than a glimpse of this dragon. A bright silver shine along the riverbank, a ripple in the water, and then he's gone, far out of range of any prying eyes. Some wonder why he's so shy, but others admire his reclusive nature and consider him to be a tiny guardian of the forest.