At least Fluffy and her friends will probably keep you plenty busy until then, although I can imagine Peppa feeling a little bit like she's outnumbered by skinks these days.
I guess we're pretty lucky here in Anchorage to have a really good animal care and control facility, and they have a website where you can look at the animals available for adoption. The majority are cats and dogs, but they do occasionally get reptiles, and that's probably what I would do if we ever decide to get another one. It's been on my mind lately because our snake died several weeks ago, so we are back to being a one reptile family again. Puff the "magic" (bearded) dragon gets all the attention of both his human slaves now, him and his little entourage of live bugs.
Puff is 5 years old and seems to be doing well, but he's had adenovirus for 3 years and could possibly take a turn for the worse any time, so we never know. I suffer from unpredictable episodes of depression and fatigue which make it difficult for me to consistently and reliably care for any living thing, so it wouldn't be fair to the animals for me to have any pets at all if it wasn't for my husband's willingness to take up the slack for me and make sure that they get properly cared for when I'm not up to it -- he even brings the beardie to me for his bedtime cuddle when I'm too far gone to get up and go get him myself. I once had a psychotherapist tell me that I "always need to have a little critter to take care of," so I guess that makes the beardie an unofficial "emotional support animal," but I worry that it's not fair to my husband to get stuck taking care of any more than one when I'm not up to doing my fair share (beardie + bugs = more than one).
So we have a tentative plan that if we outlive our beardie (you never know), we would probably keep the empty tank for a month or two and see how we feel, and if we both realize that we have reptile-shaped holes in our hearts, and if we still feel like we can manage to take good care of another one between the two of us, we'll start watching the local animal control website for adoptable lizards, snakes, etc. -- but just one next time, if there is a next time.
Meanwhile, we plan to cherish the one we have as much as possible. :love5:
I have to say that you're something of an inspiration to me, thinking about getting another beardie or two in your own situation, since I know that you're no stranger to being disabled and having to let your wife help you with critter care, and that you're about the same age as me too. It's pretty amazing how much you manage to do for your little family of lizards. (I never had the stomach to cut up superworms for Puff and feed him the goop inside, for example
but hopefully he doesn't miss them too much now that he's discovered Repashy Grub Pie. :wink: )