Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It’s always proudly preening its patches of colorful scales.

And look! It has grown wings! 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.

This hatchling is fascinated with salamanders. He likes to follow the tiny creatures around, counting their spots and offering them bugs or worms to eat. As best he can, he raises them as pets. He enjoys putting them on his wings and tail, usually with food or other salamanders nearby, so that he can feel them move about as well as watch them.