Leaping lizards, not fruit!

The drowned reptile.

A family say they are disgusted that their canned fruit salad came with an unwanted cold-blooded critter.

Sharyn Malcolm's sons Rhyan, 15, and 9-year-old Cameron were looking forward to a snack on Friday afternoon. On opening a Wattie's 425g Pick of the Crop tropical fruit salad can, they said they found a dead reptile.

"It was at the bottom of the can, definitely," Malcolm said. "The tail broke off it."

The tail's resting place was a mystery, and Rhyan initially told his mum. "I'm not sure if Cameron ate it or threw it in the rubbish bin."

The Waihi family first thought the animal was a lizard.

But EcoGecko Consultants principal ecologist Sarah Herbert confirmed it was a species of gecko, possibly from a native of Thailand, which is where the Wattie's product was canned.

Malcolm said she called a Wattie's customer service number to complain, but was rebuffed. She said she would contact the Ministry for Primary Industries.

"It doesn't happen very often but when it does happen we take it very seriously," a ministry spokesman said yesterday. We'd advise the consumer to get in contact with the retailer, where they bought it. And then we'd expect the retailer to get in touch with the importer, so the importer could seek an explanation from the manufacturer."

Heinz Wattie's directors Carolyn Fox and Michael Pretty did not return emails or calls requesting the company's response before deadline.