Outdoor Enclosure Tips/ Plant Recomendations

All Reptiles Enclosures & Setups
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Hey yall!
I am currently building an outdoor enclosure for my bearded dragon, but plan on taking him out and putting in a few Chuckwalla or Uros in the spring.

The enclosure is 8 feet long, 5.5 feet deep, and 7 feet tall. I built the thing to only be in direct sun for 4 or 5 hours, with partial shade for the rest of the day (I live in phoenix and temps hit 120 in the summer) Even in these temperatures ive made hides that stay between 85/90 during the day.

My question for you guys is are there any plants I could put in that are edible for lizards that can tolerate the heat. I already have some Purslane, Elephant Food, and a Catclaw Acacia. Ive looked at Creosote, but am not a fan of the browish/yellow coloration. I plan on keeping them in pots and dropping them under the soil. Im trying to allow for natural foraging behaviors and am prepared to replace them as needed.

Any recommendations/ advice from others who keep herps outside would be highly welcome!

(p.s. enclosure is not complete yet, will be sure to post pictures when its done! :grin: )

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Not too familiar with desert plants but @thebeardedherper built a custom enclosure with plants that beardies can eat so he could be of assistance.

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Elephant bush, aloe, and spineless cactus are decent edible plants that can take a beating. Though the elephant bush should be a really big one to keep up with being munched on and more plants equals less stress on each individual plant.

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I wonder if @t_h_wyman has any tips on getting your plants to thrive in these conditions.

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I do not work with lizards so I cannot ante in for things that are good potential edible plants other than what aloe, which Beard already mentioned.

Jade plants are good for dry and pretty structurally robust. Ponytail palms can take things on the drier side. Dragon’s blood and hen-and-chicks are nice ground cover options. Proboscidea and Ibicella are really robust desert plants. But they can get huge and their seeds are sort of aggressive-ish

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Thank you guys for the recs! My aviary wire came in today, so pics will come soon!

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