Reptile Encounters Scotland

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Reptile Encounters Scotland

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Reptile Encounters Scotland, Party Entertainment Service, 4 first Avenue Stevenson, Stevenston.

🦎 Hands-on reptile & invertebrate encounters
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For kids, families & adults
🎉 Parties • Private sessions • Group visits
📍 Stevenston, North Ayrshire
👉 Book online via our website

10/06/2026

🦎 A Huge Thank You to Bresch Brothers!🦎

Today we would like to say a massive thank you to Adam and everyone at Bresch Brothers for their incredible generosity and support of Reptile Encounters Scotland.

Following a brief meeting this afternoon to discuss some future enclosure projects for our sanctuary animals, Adam very kindly offered to support us with materials to help improve and expand our facilities.

What we didn't expect was for brand new sheets of plywood to be delivered to the sanctuary less than 30 minutes later!

As a small family-run, not-for-profit reptile sanctuary, support like this makes a genuine difference. Every pound we can save on building materials is a pound that can instead be invested directly into animal care, enclosure improvements, food, heating and veterinary support.

The first project we'll be tackling is a brand new tortoise table for Shergar 🐢, giving him an improved home and more space to explore.

We are incredibly grateful for the support shown by local businesses such as Bresch Brothers, and we're looking forward to sharing updates as these projects take shape over the coming weeks.

Thank you again Adam and the team – your kindness and generosity are greatly appreciated.

❤️ Please help us thank Bresch Brothers in the comments below.

08/06/2026

🦎😂 The reaction says it all...

One of our bearded dragons enjoying a dubia roach during a recent encounter and some fantastic reactions from our young visitors!

Some of the best learning moments happen when visitors get to observe natural animal behaviours up close. Whether it's a gecko blinking, a snake exploring its surroundings or a bearded dragon enjoying a snack, there's always something fascinating to discover.

Would you have been fascinated or horrified? 😆

⬇️ Let us know below!

02/06/2026

🦎💚 From Curious to Confident! 💚🦎

One of the most rewarding parts of what we do at Reptile Encounters Scotland isn't just introducing people to amazing animals – it's watching confidence grow throughout a session.

Many visitors arrive feeling a little nervous around reptiles, only to leave having handled snakes, lizards and other fascinating creatures they never thought they'd get close to!

Saturday's sessions were a perfect example of this. We saw lots of brave young reptile enthusiasts meeting some of our animal ambassadors, learning about their natural behaviours, asking fantastic questions and building confidence around animals that are often misunderstood.

Whether it's meeting a gentle gecko, holding a corn snake for the first time, or helping support one of our larger snakes, every encounter is designed to be relaxed, educational and tailored to the comfort level of each participant.

We believe education is one of the most powerful tools we have for helping people understand and appreciate these incredible animals. 🐍🦎💚

Have you or your child ever surprised yourselves by handling an animal you thought you'd be nervous about?

⬇️ We'd love to hear your stories in the comments!

📍 Stevenston, North Ayrshire
🦎 Family-run reptile sanctuary
🎉 Private encounters, parties & educational visits
📚 Small group educational experiences
📅 Advance booking required

29/05/2026

🦎 Feature Friday: Meet Chocolate! 🍫💚

After Lorna gave Chocolate a shout-out on our last post, we thought it was only fair that he got his very own Feature Friday! 😊

Chocolate is one of our African Fat Tailed Geckos and is always a favourite with visitors to the sanctuary. With his gentle nature and curious personality, he's fantastic at helping people build confidence around reptiles and discover just how fascinating these animals really are.

Native to the dry regions of West Africa, African Fat Tailed Geckos get their name from the thick tail they use to store fat reserves. They're closely related to Leopard Geckos but are often considered a little calmer and more laid back in temperament.

One of the most rewarding parts of what we do is watching visitors meet animals like Chocolate and seeing any nerves quickly turn into curiosity, confidence and excitement. Whether it's their first time meeting a reptile or they're already a reptile enthusiast, Chocolate always seems to make a lasting impression! 🦎💚

💡 Fun Fact Friday: Unlike many lizards, African Fat Tailed Geckos have movable eyelids and can blink!

Have you met Chocolate during one of our encounters?

⬇️ Let us know in the comments, and if you've got a favourite gecko species we'd love to hear that too!

📍 Stevenston, North Ayrshire
🦎 Educational Reptile Encounters
💚 Family-Run Animal Sanctuary
📅 Pre-booking Essential

24/05/2026

🦎 We've Been a Little Quiet... 💚

If you've noticed we've been a bit quieter than usual on social media recently, firstly thank you for sticking around with us 😊

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind behind the scenes. Between changes to work patterns, a spell of illness, looking after our amazing animals, and all of the day-to-day tasks involved in running a small family sanctuary, social media unfortunately had to take a back seat for a little while.

The good news is that throughout it all, the animals have continued to receive the very best care, we've welcomed visitors through our doors, carried out educational sessions, and continued working hard behind the scenes to grow and improve Reptile Encounters Scotland for the future 🦎🐍🕷️

As many of you know, we're a small family-run sanctuary and every bit of support means the world to us. Whether you've visited us, shared a post, left a review, recommended us to a friend, or simply followed our journey, thank you 💚

We're now looking forward to getting back into sharing more of our animals, educational content, behind-the-scenes updates, fun facts, and of course plenty of photos and videos of our incredible reptile ambassadors!

To help us get back into the swing of things, tell us below:

👇 Which animal would you like to see featured next?

🐍 Snake
🦎 Lizard
🕷️ Tarantula
🐢 Tortoise
🪳 Invertebrate

Thank you all for your continued support of our little sanctuary.

The Reptile Encounters Scotland team 💚

📍 Stevenston, North Ayrshire
🦎 Educational Reptile Encounters
🏡 Sanctuary-Based Experiences
🎉 Parties • Schools • Community Groups
📅 Pre-booking Essential

25/04/2026

Who really speaks for animals?

Extremist animal rights campaigners operate from a worrying ideology: that humans should not keep, breed, or utilise animals for any reason. For them, the aim is not welfare, but abolition. No zoos, no guide dogs, no captive breeding and no pets. In their eyes, even the most devoted and ethical animal keeping is wrong.

Yet these campaigners often have little or no real-world experience with the animals they seek to ‘protect’. Their knowledge is shaped by rhetoric, slogans and theory. They’re experts in protests, media manipulation and emotionally disingenuous campaigning – not animal care, veterinary expertise, ethology, or conservation.

Compare their inexperience and ignorance to the knowledge and experience of animal-keeping specialists, and the source of the most useful expertise should be obvious.

Yet, in legislative hearings, media reports and public debates, it is often the activists, not the specialists, who get the final say. The imbalance is not just frustrating. It’s dangerous.

When policy is driven by emotion rather than evidence, animals end up losing.

Join the fight for data-driven policy making. Become an RRK member today.
https://responsiblereptilekeeping.org/memberships

13/04/2026

🪳 WAIT… is that the SAME animal?! 👀

What you’re seeing here is one of our Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches during one of the most incredible (and often misunderstood) moments in its life…

➡️ MOULTING – shedding its old exoskeleton to grow!

📸 Image 1: Mid-moult – halfway between old and new
📸 Image 2: Fresh out of the old skin – soft, white, and almost unrecognisable

For a short time after moulting, they’re:
⚪ Pale in colour
⚪ Soft-bodied
⚪ Extremely vulnerable

But give it a few hours… and that brand new armour hardens and darkens into the familiar look we recognise 🛡️

🧠 Fun Fact:
Cockroaches (and other invertebrates) don’t “grow” like we do — they have to shed their entire outer skeleton to get bigger!

At the sanctuary, moments like this are GOLD for learning 💚
They help us show that even the most misunderstood creatures have fascinating life cycles and vital roles in nature

💬 Be honest… did you know this already, or does it surprise you?

🦎 Want to experience things like this up close?
Our sessions are hands-on, educational, and perfect for all ages!

📍 Stevenston, North Ayrshire
🎉 Birthdays | Family Visits | School Sessions

17/03/2026

🦎🎉 GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED 🎉🦎

A huge thank you to everyone who entered our 500 followers giveaway — the support has been incredible 💚

All entries were assigned a number and selected using a random number generator to keep things completely fair and transparent.

🏆 Congratulations to Iain Gordon 🏆
You’ve won a Small Group Reptile Encounter at our sanctuary 🦎

Please send us a message to arrange your visit — we can’t wait to welcome you!

👇 If you entered, drop a 🦎 in the comments so we know who to include in future giveaways!

15/03/2026

Chocolate the African Fat Tail Gecko enjoying a little spa treatment today 🦎🛁

Reptiles shed their skin regularly as they grow, but sometimes small pieces can get stuck — especially around delicate areas like their toes.

When this happens, a short warm soak can help soften the shed skin so it can be safely removed.

If stuck shed is left in place it can tighten around the toes, affecting circulation and potentially causing damage, so it’s important to keep an eye on it and deal with it early.

Thankfully Chocolate was very relaxed during their soak and should be feeling much more comfortable now 💚

Moments like this are all part of making sure our reptiles stay healthy, comfortable, and well cared for.

14/03/2026

Rocky seems to have taken a particular liking to one of the plush snakes from our sanctuary shop 😅

We promise the toys are usually treated with a little more respect than this…

Rocky the Bearded Dragon is one of the reptiles visitors can meet during our Reptile Encounter sessions 🦎

Address

4 First Avenue Stevenson
Stevenston
KA203LR

Telephone

+441294442415

Website

http://www.reptileencountersscotland.com/

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