Crested Gecko introduction?

Question
I have a year old male crested. He was raised with other geckos when I purchased him in Dec. '09. I just purchased a female approx. 8 months old but large for her age and tried to introduce them. He seems very aggressive and tries to bite her all over. I moved her out and tried to introduce them again in a large plastic tub and he really didn't react to her at all. I thought he might be attracted and want to mate but after the second try I don't know if I should. Any ideas? Should I give up and get a second aquarium? Thank you in advance for you time.
Koni

Answer
Hi Koni,

Mating behaviour with many species of geckos, including cresteds, can be very aggressive as the male subdues the female. It can be a  rather disturbing to see as a pet owner. I really suspect that is what you were seeing. Males establish a territory and mate with the females within that so he was likely quite thrown off his game when you put him in the unfamiliar territory of the tub! Some males can be so persistent and overly aggressive that a lone female target will not feed and/or show other signs of stress or physical injury. That is my usual criteria for removing the female. You didn't mention if your intent was to breed them but if it is I would try re-introducing them again when you can observe them for awhile. With luck, your male should get over his initial "over excitement" and settle into normal breeding behaviour.

At 8 months of age your second gecko should have been easy to accurately sex. Cresteds don't tend to be too subtle in that regard but it never hurts to verify that your female is indeed a female, especially if it was sexed by someone else.