And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing. It’s learned to use its new wings quickly and you now have a hard time keeping it on the ground.
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 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.