Choosing your very first pet turtle can be a very fun and exciting experience. But at the same time, it can be quite difficult since there are a lot of questions and things that you have yet to learn about turtles. Or at least that was the case for me when I was choosing my first pet turtle.
So, to help people that are going through the same thing that I was at that time, I decided to write this article about what are the best pet turtles for a beginner, as choosing the right turtle species from the start can make things a lot easier for you. And I will also go over some turtle species that you might want to avoid.
But first, what makes a turtle species more beginner-friendly than another species?
What Makes A Turtle Beginner-Friendly
All turtle species are very similar, most of them have the same diet, require more or less the same temperature, and require the same type of tank. The only thing that can make a turtle more beginner-friendly, than other turtles is its size.
Small turtles are great pets for a lot of reasons, here are some of them:
They require less space. As a turtle grows bigger it will require a lot more space in the tank, and this can be a huge problem if you don’t have too much space to spear. But with a small turtle that doesn’t grow, you won’t be facing this problem. Most of the turtle species that I will list will only require a tank that will be 30 or 40 gallons. While other species will require tanks as big as 100 gallons.
The general rule is that a turtle needs 10 gallons of water for every inch of the shell that they’ve got. So the smaller the turtle the smaller the tank.
You don’t have to clean after them as often. Since they are smaller they will also take longer to make the water dirty. This doesn’t mean that you won’t have to change the water at all but you will probably only have to do it once every two weeks, instead of once every week like you would have to do with a regular-sized turtle. Even if it’s not that hard to change the water in the tank it can get dull and unpleasant to do it every week. But with a smaller turtle, you will have to do it less often.
They don’t eat as much food. Since they are smaller they will have to eat less food than other turtles. This doesn’t mean that you have to feed them less often, but instead, you have to give them less food. Over time the quantity of food that they eat will reflect in your budget. Even if turtle food is not very expensive, saving 10 or 20 dollars every month is always a good thing.
They are cheaper to maintain. The food isn’t the only place where you will be saving money, you will also be saving money on electricity bills since they won’t need very powerful heating lamps and UV bulbs, don’t get me wrong they still need them but the area that the lights have to cover will be smaller so they don’t have to be as powerful. And you will also save a lot of money on equipment. Most turtles that grow in size over time will need new tanks to live in and a new water pump that is able to keep up with the turtle. But for those turtles that don’t grow large, you won’t have to change them at all.
They are very cute. Smaller animals are usually cute, and in my opinion, some of the cutest animals in the world are small turtles. You might not be sharing my opinion here, but I think this is one big advantage small turtles have over regular-sized ones.
So let’s see which are those small turtles that make the best pet turtles for beginners.
5 Best Pet Turtles for Beginners
1.Mud Turtles
Photo by Andrew Hoffman / Flickr
Size: between 3 – 5 inches.
Appearance: As the name implies they have a grey-brown color very similar to the color of mud, depending on the area from which they are the shades of the color can vary a little. They also have a very spherical shell compared to most turtles that have them more flattened. And of course, they are very small.
Lifespan: up to 50 years.
Where they live: Mud turtles can be found in the United States, more precisely in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Pet difficulty: Beginner.
Mud turtles are a good first pet turtle, they are relatively easy to maintain, and they don’t require any kind of special treatment. They are also very hardy and are not pretentious when it comes to food. In general, a 40 gallons tank should be enough for a mud turtle.
2. Musk Turtles
Photo by JoshuaDavisPhotography / Flickr
Size: between 3 – 4 inches.
Appearance: The color of the common musk turtles tends to be a darker gray, sometimes getting very close to black. On their heads, they have a pair of irregular horizontal yellow stripes that run along the sides.
Lifespan: up to 50 years.
Where they live: There are three species of musk turtles, and each species lives in a different place. The smaller species that we are interested in can be found in southern Canada, as well as the United States and Mexico.
Pet difficulty: Beginner.
Musk turtles are great turtles for a beginner, they are one of the hardiest species that you can find. Baby musk turtles are a little fragile, but after a few months (around 2), that is no longer a problem. They are not pretentious when it comes to temperature and the fact that they stay small means that you won’t need to get a tank that is too big.
3. Spotted Turtles
Size: between 3 and 5 inches.
Appearance: Spotted turtles have a very unique appearance among turtles. They are covered with a dark black color and they have small round spots on them that can be various shades of yellow. The spots can be distributed randomly along with the shell, or they can be one per scute.
Lifespan: more than 100 years.
Where they live: Spotted turtles can be found in Canada in Quebec and Ontario, and in the United States in Maine, Florida, Indiana, and Ohio.
Pet difficulty: Beginner.
Unlike most other turtles spotted turtles also enjoy spending a lot of time on land, so they will require a slightly bigger basking area than most turtles, but taking into consideration its size, what other turtles might consider a small basking area, the spotted turtle will consider it big.
4. Diamondback Terrapins
Photo by Northeast Coastal & Barrier Network Follow / Flickr
Size: males between 3 and 5 inches, females between 4 and 7 inches.
Appearance: Diamondback terrapins are divided into a lot of subspecies, and each one of them has a different appearance. In general, the shell of diamondback terrapins is wider at the back than in the front, having a shape similar to a wedge if you look at them from above. The color of the shell can vary a lot, but it’s usually brown or gray and all the shades between them. The color of the body can be brown, yellow, gray, or white. All diamondback terrapins subspecies have very interesting patterns on their skin, in the form of black wiggly spots. Diamondback terrapins also have large feet, compared to other turtle species.
Lifespan: up to 30 years.
Where they live: Diamondback terrapins live on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. From the northern parts of Massachusetts to the southern parts of Florida and around the Gulf Coast to Texas.
Pet difficulty: Medium.
Diamondback terrapins are very good beginner pets, they are very hardy, and they have a typical turtle diet. And in general, they are very easy to maintain. The only problem is that their population is not in the best shape right now and in some places, it can be illegal to own one, so if you are thinking of getting a diamondback terrapin you should first check the local laws. If it’s legal to own one and you are looking for your first pet turtle then you should really consider getting a Diamondback terrapin, they can be great beginner turtles.
If you want to check out your local turtle laws, you should check out this interactive map.
5. Reeve’s Turtles
Size: males between 4 and 5 inches, females between 6 and 8 inches.
Appearance: Reeve’s turtles are mostly plain-looking but they have a few things that set them apart from the rest of the turtles. The shell has three longitudinal keels and the color ranges from tan to olive-green to black, occasionally with faint contrasting radiation or smudging. Other than the three ridges they have a very plain appearance.
Lifespan: up to 20 years.
Where they live: Reeve’s turtles are also known as Chinese pond turtles, and they are found in Eastern Asia, primarily in China, but also in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
Pet difficulty: Medium. Reeve’s turtles are very hardy and they have a simple diet. The only drawback is that even if they are aquatic turtles, they aren’t very good swimmers, so you will have to be careful with the water levels of the tank. In general, you should make sure that the water depth is one and a half the length of the turtle’s shell. So if you have a 4-inch turtle, the water should be 6 inches deep ( 4 x 1.5 ), if the turtle has 2 inches the water should be 3 inches deep ( 2 x 1.5 ).
Pet Turtles to Avoid
Red-Eared Sliders
As I said at the beginning of the article most pet turtles are very similar to one another, the biggest difference is size. And one turtle that is usually advertised as a great beginner pet, but it actually isn’t is the Red-Eared Slider.
Red-Eared Sliders can be great pets, but they might be too much for a beginner. And the fact that they can grow as big as 12 inches, is rarely mentioned by sellers, all they show you is a picture of a small Red-Eared Slider, and sometimes they tell you that it won’t grow anymore.
So the main problem is not that they are bad pets, but that they are advertised as something that they aren’t. Red-Eared Sliders can be great pets, but before getting one you should know that they can grow quite big and that they don’t always play nice with other turtles or fish, or even tank plants. But the same thing can be said about a lot of turtles.
Red-Eared Sliders are what I would classify as a medium-difficulty pet turtles.
Snapping Turtles
There are two species of snapping turtles, the common snapping turtle, which is a somewhat plain-looking turtle, and the alligator snapping turtle which looks like this.
But the alligator snapping turtle doesn’t just look dangerous, it actually is. It can grow as big as 29 inches (73 centimeters), is very aggressive, and has an extremely dangerous bite that can even break bones.
So this turtle is probably the worst turtle that you can have for a pet. And while you might think that nobody will try to take a turtle-like this home for a pet, you will be surprised to know that it’s not that uncommon. When they are young these turtles are kind of cute, and you wouldn’t suspect that they will grow into this.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, the 5 best pet turtles for beginners, and some pet turtles that you might want to avoid.
As I said in the beginning, with a few exceptions pet turtles are very similar in what they need and what you have to do in order to take care of them. So the main thing that we can use to differentiate how beginner-friendly they are is their size, as size affects important things like tank size, food, how often you have to clean the tanks, etc.
If you are considering getting a pet turtle I strongly suggest you check out the following sections of the site. In those sections you will find guides that cover every essential bit of information that a turtle owner needs to know and all the turtle equipment that you will need:
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