Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It occasionally shoots small puffs of smoke from its nose, like it’s trying to breathe fire.

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.

Tiny Red Fireball is of questionable pedigree, according to many of her fellow dragons.  This might explain why she remains a hatchling.  Thankfully, Tiny Red Fireball is not alone in her plight.  She received her name after an adult red dragon was teasing her and she tried to breathe a fireball into his face.  It did not work, but her effort resulted in her name, though most the adults consider it a degrading name.  She ignores the adults as best as she can and can usually be found in the company of the other hatchlings.