Odd Socks Animal Rescue, East Ayrshire (2026)

05/01/2026

Hope everybody had a lovely festive season - today we're back after our break, printing care guides (once I've changed the ink in the printer without incident...) and answering your animal care related queries!

As a reminder - care guides are free if you live in the UK, and we have a guide for most commonly kept species (leopard geckos, bearded dragons, corn snakes etc as well as GALs, domestic/pet pigeons - feel free to ask if we have a guide for a particular species). Each guide is approximately 30 - 40 A4 pages and includes recommended equipment lists, further reading, and science based husbandry advice. These are not all-in-one care manuals, but supplementary guides to help inform better keeping. We update them frequently, so if you have a guide that is a year or more old, feel free to ask for an updated version.

We are not vets. The advice of people on the Internet is not a replacement for a reputable exotic veterinarian. If you have queries relating to the illness or injury of an animal, please seek veterinary assistance in the first instance.

12/12/2025

NOTICE - Odd Socks Animal Rescue

The strong winds on Tuesday 9th December knocked out our Internet. We have had an engineer out today, but unfortunately the issue needs some more involved repair and we have an upto 2 week period to wait for a fix over the holiday season.

I am so sorry that I have not been able to see or respond to messages - we're all okay, I'm not ignoring you, and I hope to be able to get back in touch soon! ❤️

29/11/2025

Hello to all the new people who have followed us over the last couple of days! Thank you for showing us and our animals so much love, particularly Bugsy the beardie!

Whilst many of you were drawn here by our recent posts about beautiful Bugs, we wanted to highlight two other residents who are still searching for their perfect homes!

Meet Iris, the crested gecko, and Buck, a young male bearded dragon who's searching for an experienced keeper.

Both have been with us for some time, through no fault of their own - they just require a little more patience and time to warm up than some of our other residents, and sadly they have been overlooked for animals who are more outgoing and less anxious about meeting new people.

Buck is now approximately 2 years old, whereas Iris is likely between 3 and 4 years old.

Buck is an energetic young lad, with a great appetite, tonnes of energy, a passion for climbing and a tenuous understanding of the difference between food and human finger - he means no harm, but due to a total lack of socialisation during the first few months of his life and some stressful experiences thereafter, he needs some time to get comfy with people and prefers to live life on his own terms. He is handlable when necessary, but he is yet to take us up on choice based handling (he does really enjoy a chat, through!). With time, love, patience and consistency, he may progress further - but we want him to get to experience life in a pet home, with somebody who wouldn't be phased by his occasional displays of defensiveness. He is food motivated above all else, and we know that he could form a wonderful bond with the right person.

Iris is a shy girl who is missing her tail. She loves her bugs and her favourite fruit is banana. She can be a little flighty, but with patience and understanding, she has learnt to trust and gotten much more comfortable with her keepers. She would love to experience life in a pet home, with somebody gentle and patient who won't be disappointed if she doesn't always feel like interacting. She loves a densely planted vivarium, and lots of areas high up with cryptic basking opportunities - full spectrum lighting is, as always, a necessity.

Both reptiles will move house with some of their favourite décor, but housing and electrical equipment will need to be provided by their new keepers.

For more information about our adoption policies and vetting process, feel free to have a read of our pinned posts.

27/11/2025

EDIT - Reserved for Adoption 💗

Sadly, we are back to the drawing board with beautiful Bugsy. Hopefully this time we can match him with the perfect keeper.

Bugs is an approximately 5 year old male bearded dragon, in fantastic health and with a lovely calm personality. He loves nothing more than to sit and chill and watch the world go by (he particularly enjoys watching the fish and turtles here at the rescue!).

He will move home with a custom 4ft x 2ft x 2ft vivarium and some of his favourite décor, whilst his new home must be willing to provide heating and lighting equipment and all other kit.

For more information on our policies and vetting process, see our pinned posts.

28/04/2025

Do you know what our most asked question is?!

Far and away the question we're asked most frequently is...

"That's amazing but... how much does it cost? 🤔"
"Okay, how much do I owe you?"
"What's the minimum donation?"
"What is OSAR's adoption fee?"

The answer to all of the above is - ZERO. Nothing at all.
There is no cost whatsoever.

We do not charge a fee for adopting one of our rehabbed rescue animals, and some of the reasons for this are as follow...

Instead of asking for a payment to ensure an adopter is serious, we ask all prospective adoptive keepers to go through our vetting process. This is an in-depth interview style discussion which allows us to ascertain suitability, preparedness, experience level, knowledge and commitment - these are the factors we use to determine whether an applicant is offering the right home for an animal.

We only take in the moderate number of animals for whom we can provide a high standard of care without additional financial support, and we do not feel that adoptive keepers should pay for the treatment and rehabilitation of their new friends - we'd much rather that money went towards ensuring that their lives going forward are as wonderful as they can be.

Whilst adoption is free, don't let this fool you into thinking we place animals on a whim - we are rigorous with our vetting and frequently decline applicants who do not meet our standard of care. However, although we're strict, we're also fair - we are always happy to help promising prospective keepers get everything spot on and assist with any necessary changes, we also provide our own care guides for most species commonly seen in rescue - these are printed documents typically in excess of 30 pages, complete with diagrams, charts and photographic examples. When you adopt through OSAR, you have our support and assistance whenever you need it.

Of course, if you want to cover our fuel or another cost, we won't say no - but money is never a factor in our decision to agree an adoption. OSAR exists because we love animals and we want to see them thrive in happy homes ❤️

18/03/2025

(EDIT - No longer available for adoption)

HARRY
AVAILABLE FOR DIRECT ADOPTION

Harry, named after Harry Potter, is a friendly, well socialised 11 month old beardie who finds himself seeking a new family through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen and sudden change in circumstances for his current keeper, Harry is no longer receiving the attention he is used to.
Harry has been well cared for, enjoying a varied diet of fresh shop bought and foraged greens along with a variety of feeders including crickets and roaches - he has a great appetite and enjoys being hand fed as well as free hunting during free roam. His supplementation schedule has primarily focused on calcium, but he has also been given bee pollen on his salads. Going forward, his supplementation schedule could use some refining to include a multivitamin and probiotic.
He has had access to species appropriate heat and UVB, however the installation of these does need some adjustment going forward. We would be looking for Harry's new keeper to demonstrate a thorough understanding of necessary changes and be prepared to provide an upgrade.
Harry will move home with some of his décor, but he will not have his current vivarium. His new keeper should be prepared to provide Harry with at least minimum recommended enclosure size, as per our policies.

All information and photographs have been provided to us by Harry's current keeper, and he shall remain in their care as we vet homes on their behalf.
If you think you may be the perfect person to offer Harry the life he deserves, have a read of our pinned posts (at the top of the Odd Socks Animal Rescue page) and get in touch for a chat.

10/02/2025

(ADOPTIVE HOME FOUND!)
PIGEONS!

We are still looking to find loving pet/aviary homes for four ex-feral and oops baby pigeons - bonded pair Lady and Honk, young presumed male Daisy and young presumed female Britney.

Lady is a double stringfoot survivor with some missing toes - she was wing walking for some time upon rescue and had been shunned by her flock. She is a smart and dignified lady who doesn't stand for anybody's nonsense. She is a frequent single egg layer and requires monitoring for egg binding due to this - she also requires regular claw cutting on her remaining toes. She is not a big people pigeon, but she will eat from your hand and is happy to be in your company providing you respect her personal space.

Honk is Lady's partner - he is a hawk attack survivor and was later stage hand raised here at OSAR. He was intended for release, but bonded with Lady and brought her a lot of happiness. He is human habituated and enjoys sitting on your head or shoulder, he will preen your ears if he thinks you have treats for him, but he prefers the company of his wife over anything else. He is a healthy young male who will potentially outlive Lady who spent years of her life on the streets, so this is something to take into consideration.

Daisy and Britney are both "Oops babies". They have been raised by their parents in captivity and are both human habituated though prefer the company of birds over people. Daisy is the more confident bird, whereas Britney is more shy and reserved.

All four pigeons are mite and worm treated, the ex-ferals have not had contact with wild birds since rescue and the juveniles have never had contact with wild birds. There is no risk of H5N1 virus.

The original plan was to offer all birds lifelong sanctuary here at Odd Socks, however we have recently been denied planning on an aviary extension and, in order to be able to continue providing help where it is most needed, we feel that these four pigeons would be most suited to finding a forever home elsewhere. Honk and Lady must be rehomed as a pair, however Britney and Daisy can be adopted individually or together with the adults. Homes must be able to demonstrate safe and secure housing, knowledge of species appropriate care and be prepared to ethically terminate fertilised eggs. For more info on our policies, please see our pinned posts.

If you think you might be the perfect person to offer these beautiful birds the life they deserve, or you'd like to find out more about our pigeons, please get in touch for a chat!

04/02/2025

Notice about adoptions! 🙂

Whilst we are very happy to work with well researched novice keepers, we would request that you have at least begun the research process prior to contacting us in regards to an adoption.
The reasoning for this is as follows - thorough research, to the level at which we will feel comfortable entrusting a rescue animal's wellbeing to you, takes time. When you contact us very keen on adopting a particular animal, but have not yet begun the research process, have no prior knowledge on the species or maybe even reptiles/amphibians/fish in general, this precludes us being able to adequately vet you (as you do not yet have the knowledge to answer our husbandry questions). You will also notice that some of our animals profiles include phrases like "requires an experienced keeper" or "prior species experience necessary" - these animals typically have some sort of additional complexity to their care such as a behavioural difficulty or disability, or very specific environmental requirements.

I wanted to make this post to manage expectations somewhat, as we have had a couple of hopeful applicants recently who were eager to reserve an animal but had not yet delved into everything that becoming a keeper would entail.

When you contact us as a novice keeper, our first aim is to support you in your research - be that by chatting about husbandry, directing you to other reputable sources of information or just helping you to set out a plan of action on your adoption journey. - all of which we are very happy to do!

It may be that as a first time keeper, adopting an animal with a difficult history is not the right path for you - or, you might be the perfect person to offer a home to one of our residents. When we ask you to do some more research and come back to us, this is not intended to be a rejection of you as a potential home - some of our favourite success stories have been placements with beginner keepers.

Just something to keep in mind when contacting us - good things are worth waiting for and they are worth doing properly ❤

13/01/2025

(HOME FOUND)
FRANKLYN - AVAILABLE FOR DIRECT ADOPTION

Franklyn, nicknamed "Turbo" on account of his speed, is an approximately 4 to 5 year old Reeves' Turtle who is seeking a new home where he will get a little more time and attention. We have been trying to find the perfect home for Franklyn for a long time now, for one reason or another homes have fallen through and he is still waiting to find the ideal new family to call his own.

He has been well loved despite being sold to his novice keepers as a slider, and has had some access to UVB lighting and a species appropriate basking area, regular provision of calcium and a somewhat varied diet.

Franklyn will be rehomed with his current set-up which comprises a 4ft tank, filtration system, heating equipment and tank décor (which he loves to rearrange!). He will require an upgrade to linear UVB as a condition of adoption, and a larger tank with a more naturalistic habitat would be a fantastic upgrade for him as well in time!!

Experience or at the very least a pre-existing knowledge of turtle care is a must for his adoptive keeper. Franklyn remains in the care of his current family and we will be vetting prospective adoptive homes and facilitating transportation on their behalf.
If you think you might be the perfect person to give Franklyn the fresh start he deserves, have a read of our pinned posts and get in touch for a chat.

(All information and images have been provided to OSAR by the current keeper, we have not seen Franklyn or his set-up in person)

06/01/2025

That's our car checked into the garage to fix the damage from our minor collision last year, we had hoped it would be a quick fix, but it seems we may be waiting a little while and our courtesy car is not big enough to transport anything larger than a ~3ft tank or vivarium.

We have also signed a "No animals" agreement on the loan of the courtesy car. I'm pretty sure this relates to cat or dog hair, but we're going to err on the side of better safe than sorry unless we have a veterinary emergency.

Due to this, we will not be able to assist with transport or collection until we have our vehicle back, and we will have to postpone collection of bulky donations 🙄

Thank you for your understanding and apologies for this!

- Odd Socks Animal Rescue

Odd Socks Animal Rescue

05/01/2026

12/12/2025

29/11/2025

27/11/2025

28/04/2025

18/03/2025

10/02/2025

04/02/2025

13/01/2025

06/01/2025

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