You to the lovely small tortoise how many know?

　　We are frequently asked here at the Turtle Club about which species are the best for beginners to keep. This can be a difficult question to answer; one must consider that turtle ownership is not a short lived hobby but more of a long term commitment. Most turtles live a very long time and many species will definitely outlive their owners. In consideration of this one must not only plan for the long term they often must plan beyond that and consider who will care from them after they're gone. That said turtles are very easy to care for if you provide them with the right stuff. The right stuff depends on which species you have.
There are many good sites out there on the internet that provide excellent care sheets once you know which species you have. At this time the Seattle Turtle and Tortoise Club does not provide individual care sheets, but we hope to aid in your identification of your animal by showing some of the more commonly kept (or member kept) species here. Beside each example we will provide a score of 1 to 5 relating to the difficultly of keeping each species. This scale is our own and one we have developed over time from the amount of calls we get asking for assistance.