AN IGUANA was left behind at a High Wycombe petrol station at the weekend.

The reptile was discovered in a box by staff at the Esso garage in New Road, Booker, on Sunday evening.

A customer came into the garage and asked if he could leave a box inside while he was fixing his car on the forecourt.

The customer then drove off, leaving the iguana behind – where it was not found until some time later.

RSPCA officers than came to collect the animal, which was found to have serious burns to its skin.

Animal Collection Officer Dennis Lovell said: “We're hoping that the owner forgot about the iguana and is wondering where he left it.

“If he did deliberately abandon her there he should realise that it is not acceptable to dump an animal when you can't be bothered to care for it.”

He said the burns were a mixture of recent and older injuries, probably caused by improper heating.

“Burns of this type are usually caused by improper housing, when owners, often due to ignorance, use bare, unguarded light bulbs to heat vivariums,” he said.

“Reptiles, attempting to keep warm, then get too close to the bulbs and burn their skin.”

The young female iguana is now receiving veterinary treatment and will stay at a specialist reptile facility to recover.

ACO Lovell added: “We do find that people take on exotic animals like reptiles without researching their needs or having any idea of how to care for it properly.

“They then end up injured, sick or even dead just because their owners either didn't have the money or knowledge about how to care for them.”

Anyone with information about this incident should contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.