Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals.

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.

Rikuki is an active little creature. He enjoys flying in the dark, and often keeps his owner up all night!

However, this is more than compensated by his getting rid of all the bugs in the area, mosquitos are no longer any trouble at all.

Thanks to dlatl-- and her dragons, for having given me such a gift.