A snake and a monitor lizard appear to have suffered gruesome deaths, after their disemboweled remains were found dumped in St Albans woodland.

The RSPCA is appealing for information after the bodies of a royal python and a monitor lizard were discovered by a passer-by in a wooded area on Park Street Lane in How Wood on Sunday January 10.

Both animals, each about one metre in length, had clean incisions all the way along the undersides of their bodies and their internal organs were missing.

RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith said: “We don’t know for sure if the reptiles had already died before being cut open or indeed if the person who dumped them was the same person responsible for cutting them, but they may have suffered a great deal.

“Reptiles have specialist needs and it is both sad and disturbing that these have been dumped in the woods.

“The monitor lizard looks like an Indonesian species, though it is difficult to identify from the remains. These types of monitors are not very commonly kept as pets so we are hoping that someone will know someone in the area who has, until recently, owned such an animal.

“We urge anyone with information to contact us as soon as possible.”

The royal python’s head and the monitor’s back legs were missing but this was thought to be as a result of a wild animal scavenging after the reptiles were dumped.

However, the cuts to their bodies are thought to have been caused deliberately with a sharp instrument.

Rachel said the charity was unsure whether the reptiles were killed in the woods or if their owner was disposing of the bodies, “though it appears that the royal python and the monitor were in quite good body condition before they died”.

If you have information on these animals, please call the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018. Calls are treated in confidence