Young dragons are called dragonets or hatchlings and must feed almost constantly. Their diet includes large rocks, melted into a flammable liquid by their highly corrosive stomach acid, which, when snorted out of the dragons nostrils, ignites, and enables them to breathe fire. The hatchlings work long and hard at this great talent and usually have it perfected by the time they are two years old.

Young Dragons delight in sneaking up behind their elders and demonstrating their fire breathing ability, which can often result in stern discipline, and loss of flight privileges for several days.

At a year old, dragons have reached seventy percent of their adult size and have learned to fly, a skill that is not easily learned. Many small dragons experience air sickness and a few tend to be acrophobic, at first. But fly they do.