# Creating wild lizard habitat on concrete



## Just4myWildLizards (May 14, 2021)

I have wild lizards and skinks living in my yard. Mainly green and brown Enoles, eastern fence lizards, and rainbow skinks. There is a small corner on the exterior of my house that has a deck right against an exterior wall that is allowing for rot and decay. It’s a great home for my wild babies  unfortunately my house is taking a hit. I am thinking of slabbing the area but I need to try to maintain the lizards habitat as much as possible. I was thinking of planters with stack of thin rock between the planters but I don’t feel like it’s enough. Any thoughts or ideas?


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Big, dense shards of cork can take the outdoors surprisingly well if they arent in full duress of the sun and rain. They aint on tree no more, but its still pretty good. Stacked shale with lots of cracks. Use your imagination and let it evolve. Go to the landscaping yard and have at it. Kind Lizard King.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Oh yeah dont forget an excellent yard chair for viewing and photos. you deserve it a really nice one.


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Maybe loquat bush or other other to draw insects. That would rock.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

where are you located?


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Sounds like Florida!


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I'm gonna guess more north Georgia or even the Carolinas


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

If I saw the places i stalked in Duval county today I would probably cry and i dont cry easy.

Yeah Philsuma Those Places good lizard land too. I would move there today. If i could.


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

Philsuma said:


> I'm gonna guess more north Georgia or even the Carolinas


Depending what he means by green and brown anoles. Colors or species. We do not have A. sagrei in north Georgia.


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## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

Depending on how involved you want to get, you could make fake boulders (as real boulders tend to be expensive and challenging to transport)






These would provide cover and basking sites and look decent. Any dense sort of shrubbery would probably provide good cover for them too. I'd imagine if you just provide any landscape that has lots of nooks and crannies you'll keep your lizards.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

You know, a slab up against the house is going to create a hot spot, unless you incorporate some partial or full shade over it (pergola or something). A slab is like a heat battery, radiating heat until well after midnight if it was getting sun. What is it that's rotting / decaying? The house or the deck?


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

I've done some retaining wall projects with "urbanite" (demolished concrete slab / sidewalk / driveway). In flat country you could make some planters with them. Snakes and lizards love the nooks and crannies, especially if you include some angular backfill with not-too-small particle size. The backfill gives some deeper escape / overnight territory. If you demolish a driveway or sidewalk, even if you cut it up with a saw, you'll get some smaller chunks.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)




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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

jgragg said:


> View attachment 299545


this is just an example lifted off the internet


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## Just4myWildLizards (May 14, 2021)

Kmc said:


> Big, dense shards of cork can take the outdoors surprisingly well if they arent in full duress of the sun and rain. They aint on tree no more, but its still pretty good. Stacked shale with lots of cracks. Use your imagination and let it evolve. Go to the landscaping yard and have at it. Kind Lizard King.


Thank you!


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## Just4myWildLizards (May 14, 2021)

Philsuma said:


> where are you located?


Central Georgia


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## Just4myWildLizards (May 14, 2021)

jgragg said:


> You know, a slab up against the house is going to create a hot spot, unless you incorporate some partial or full shade over it (pergola or something). A slab is like a heat battery, radiating heat until well after midnight if it was getting sun. What is it that's rotting / decaying? The house or the deck?


The house unfortunately. I was thinking of putting a pergola in the spot because that side of the house gets hot.


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## Just4myWildLizards (May 14, 2021)

jgragg said:


> this is just an example lifted off the internet


Thank you!


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

You bet.

Another thought for that corner might be an on-grade deck. I just built one last fall for my own home - in a hot SW-facing alcove. I removed a tilted & cracked old slab patio (that drained into my foundation - ugh) and made an urbanite retaining wall like in the picture. I had to scrape off about 4" of soil below that. And of course I had to excavate post holes - a dozen of them. The "borrow" plus more all went behind the retaining wall; I converted a slope that also drained toward the house foundation and basement window wells - *UGH* - into 2 levels of yard.

I found these things to be _supremely_ helpful.
adjustable post bases

They allow plenty of fine-tuning - a couple of inches - to level your beams, without the need to establish perfect level with your concrete placement. Close enough (within a couple inches) is actually close enough - you achieve final level with threaded steel. So if the anchors sink a little more here, a little less there before the concrete sets up, you're not screwed.

You also do not need to set your joists atop the beams ("drop beams"), you can use joist hangers so the tops of beams and joists are level ("flush beams"). That saves you from raising the deck by whatever 2x dimension your design (deck dimensions plus post layout) calls for. In any climate, but yours especially, you'll want some airflow under that deck. I scraped out about 2" worth of airspace under my beams, and covered the dirt with a thin layer of pea gravel over week cloth. The gravel is just ballast for the fabric.

I just keep going back to decks because they don't act like heat batteries.

Another potential option would be just to lay down a thick bed of wood or bark chips. Kind of like a dog park or playground. These also don't retain heat late into the night, like concrete or stone. And are the least amount of cost and time and work, both to make and also to maintain - something to consider. Or you could do pavers, and that pergola. More money, more work, looks nicer if you nail it and maintain it. Loads of options.

Anyway - good luck!


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