Young Komodo Dragons

From the moment a Komodo Dragon is born, it is left to fend for itself. At this time, the dragon is only about 8 to 22 inches long. The young dragons look very different from adult dragons and that is not just because of their size. The four ounce dragon pup is brightly colored. It is a greenish black and white with yellow specks. It also has small reddish circles around its body and alternating dark and light bands round its tail. These designs help to conceal the dragon in the shade of the trees, where it will hide for its first year or two of life.

While a full grown dragon will spend most of its time on the ground, baby dragons will spend just about all of their time up in the trees. The treetops are an excellent place for the young dragons to call home. There is plenty of food there, because young dragons begin life as insect eaters. The small dragons find beetles, ants, caterpillars, and lots of other bugs in the leafy nursery. Now, as the lizards grow, so does their diet, and soon they will eat eggs, baby birds, and little geckos. Soon, that is within a year they will more than double their weight.

When the dragons have reached a length of three feet, at about two years, they will start to spend some time on the ground.  At this time, the young dragons are at their most vulnerable. If they are not careful, they can be easily attacked by wild dogs, large snakes, and wild boars that share the island. They may even be attacked by older dragons, especially after a hunt, for the bigger dragons have been known to attack and eat the youngsters. On the ground, they hunt small rodents and scavenge. Soon, their bright colors start to fade and they become a dull gray. As they lose their color, and grow longer, they also get thicker. That is, they start to bulk up. The tail thickens and the head widens. Amazingly, a three year old juvenile dragon is already larger than most lizards! Imagine that!

Unlike adults, young dragons can only hunt prey smaller than themselves. They also try to feed off of other dragons kill, although they are very wary, as they may be eaten themselves. In fact, scientists have found that one – tenth of a fully grown Komodo dragons diet is made up of younger members of the same species!

Typically it takes about 6 – 8 years for a baby dragon to reach adulthood.