Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It’s brightly colored and chirps quite often.

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.

Tycea is known for her odd relationship with ticks. One year during a particularly nasty tick outbreak, one landed on her arm. "Why hello there, little one." she said, not knowing what a tick was. "Hello there, dragon." said the tick. "I am Armando. Pleased to meet you." If Tycea was surprised, she didn't show it. She allowed Armando to live on her skin for a few days, until she couldn't take the itching any longer. She let him go in the forest, sneaking him onto the back of a juicy deer. Tycea never expected to see her tick friend again. A few weeks later, out in the woods, Tycea was cornered by a hungry bear. As soon as the bear was about to bite, he yowled, flinched, and ran away back into the forest. Armando, who had been hitching a ride on the bear, had seen what was happening and had scurried down to take a bite out of the bear's most delicate area. Now Tycea wears a fur vest that Armando lives on, and she takes him everywhere with her.