Sure
It all depends on the size of the tank, of course, but here are a few options:
Bearded Dragon- easy care, but need at least a 50 gallon tank for an adult or two. VERY friendly and adapts well to handling. Mine actually seems to enjoy being held...
Lighting very important. Desert type vivarium. Will eat just about anything (for instance, mine eats on a regular basis: hard boiled eggs, many types of lettuce and greens, raspberries, carrots, green beans, melon, apple, banana, dried crickets and mealworms, live foods, pinky mice, peas, corn, dandelion greens and flowers, etc...everything in moderation). Needs more protein as hatchlings/sub adults, but you can buy adults very easily in the reptile trade. Many color morphs to choose from. My own personal recommendation for a beginner.
Uromastx- desert viv also....eats veggies and bird seed-type foods (legumes and grains)...not as happy to be handled as beardies, but non-aggressive. 40-50 gallon tank for 1.
Prehensile-Tailed skinks: Herbivore. I don't know much about them, never had one myself or worked with them at the zoo when I was a keeper, so I can't give you personal experience, but here is a pretty good FAQ
http://www.centralah.com/prehensile.htm
Blue tounged skinks; Omnivores similar to bearded dragons in feeding. Easily tameable and will eat almost anything readily. The one I worked with also ate canned cat food as a suppliment to her veggie diet. Excellent FAQ:
http://www.anapsid.org/bluetong.html
As a beginner, I would completely AVOID Iguanas. They are cute when young, but grow up to be very territorial and can inflict a nasty bite. Until he has more experience, I wouldn't even consider these.
Most herbivores are going to be terrestrial. And bigger than your average insectivore lizard such as an anole, thus requiring much more space.
Here's a few more choices if you want to expand your search to include turtle species and amphibians.
Box turtles: Omnivores, will eat the same green leafy veggies as above and dried crickets/canned tortoise food...love to have a very shallow "swimming pool" of some sort to lounge in...
Newts, painted turtles (really any of the slider species), and African Clawed frogs will eat pelletized sticks that float in the water. Slider turtles are also omnivores. Mine will eat veggies and lettuces readily.
Geckos- most can be "trained" to take prepackaged food. Hard part is just getting them to recognize it as food.
Most of these animals have formulated diets that you can find online: here's a link to Dr.'s Foster and Smiths page for some ideas :
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2006+6000
To tell you the honest truth, omnivores are the easiest to feed. They have many more food choices, making it easier to locate and keep an assortment of food on hand.
Remember that some of these animals are VERY restricted in certain states, so review any laws pertaining to herps before you go looking for a specific species. For instance, you can't buy turtles retail in NC, and you can't have any exotic pet within the city limits of Detroit...
http://www.kingsnake.com is the best research site for herps if you need to know more information...their FAQ pages are excellent.
Also, here's a link to other factors that may influence your decision. This lady is AMAZING writer. If you ever come across Melissa Kaplan's FAQ's or other herp articles, you can be assured that it is quality material, well-written, and accurate. Her stuff is my herp "bible".
http://www.anapsid.org/parent.html
I hope this helped...I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted, so please forgive the lengthy response. If you have more details of what kind of viv. you want to set up, feel free to PM me if needed.
