DavidYes, a royal ball python could in theory kill and eat a bearded dragon of appropriate size – although the python may not see the bearded dragon as food, as they naturally consume birds, rodents, and bats in the wild.
But, a bearded dragon could pose real threats to your pet python – not just the obvious that a bearded dragon defending itself may scratch or bite the BP, but for issues of parasite and bacterial transmission.
Bacteria and parasites that infect a reptile-like bearded dragon could also potentially infect the royal python – including pinworms and other intestinal nasties.
Can a Ball Python Eat A Bearded Dragon?
A good royal python can hunt, catch, strangle and eat a small enough bearded dragon. However, if the dragon is bigger than the python, then there will be a fight, stressing both animals, and possibly hurting one or both.
Is it Safe to Place A Bearded Dragon Cage Beside A Snake Cage?
Yes, it is safe. However, I would recommend you block the view of the other animals from each other. A snake will stop eating if it can see food (bearded dragon or iguana) in the next tank.
Also, reptiles see other reptiles, their eating habits can become disrupted.
Now… When they can see rats… That’s another story. it turns into feeding night every night, especially with retics!
ALSO SEE: Do Ball Pythons Eat Cats?
Beardies and Snakes
In the wild, snakes and beardies are natural enemies. In Australia, the majority of the larger tree and ground-dwelling native pythons and venomous snakes (especially the larger ones such as tiger snakes, taipans, black snakes, brown snakes etc.) will hunt and eat bearded dragons, even adult beardies. And sometimes they encounter and die from being bitten by death adders.
Besides, in the wild bearded dragon are opportunistic feeders and if they meet a small snake, there is a high chance the snake will be snacked upon by the bearded dragon.
If you must handle a snake and a bearded dragon on the same day. Then handle the beardie first then give the snake its turn after.
Can I Feed My 4-Year-Old Ball Python Live Lizards?
Python Regus is a warm-blooded animal specialist when it comes to food choices in the wild. Wild royal (ball) pythons are eating multimammate rats and other ground mammals and will even climb trees to go for birds and bats, including things like nestling and fledging parrots.
This means they’re not likely to recognize a lizard as food. Defrosted is safer, mainly as reptiles, oddly enough, carry parasites that other reptiles can catch, and freezing will kill some (but not all) of those. Live though…
A 4-year-old royal python should be around 3 and a half to 5 feet long nose to tail-tip, and about as big around as a cola can. That should give you an idea of how big the prey they should be eating is – a bit less than their diameter to a little bit more.
They’re not really going to be looking at anole-sized prey – that’s like feeding an adult royal python a pinky mouse. You’d need tens of them to make for one single meal for the snake – and that’s assuming the animal would take a dozen or more prey items (and many royal pythons won’t).
There are a couple of single lizards that are going to be in that size range that is going to be obtainable as feeders. You’re either looking at subadult bearded dragons (expensive, and to be frank, if you throw a live subadult bearded dragon in with a royal python, the bearded dragon is going to kick seven shades of sugar out of your royal python) or subadult iguanas (see also: how to get your python injured or dead).