Would you consdier RES 'beginner' level?

[brynjar]

No not at all. Compared to many other good choiches out there. Mud musk as mentioned require no bask until maturety at 6 years (uvb still debated), stays small, fish have a low mortality rate, giving some other intresting set up combos. I've kepty my pair of musk with Angel Scalare with succes.
Musk are crepuskular, but will seek you out in the daytime anyways.

Another great one is Reeves turtle. Same elements as a RES, bask, swims actively only diffrence is it doesnt require 300gallon as adult, more like 60

 

[Skyisthebest]

I think there are no 'beginner turtles'. All types of turtles are equally hard to take care of, because you still need the time and money and patience. That said, I think that shouldn't be the case why you choose which type of turtle to buy. I have a res and he's only been with me for almost 2 years now, but I do grow very fond of him, because he is like my child. He poops a lot and I also change the water a lot and also the filer cartridge, I make sure he gets enough food but not too much and I buy a variety to see what he prefers. I make sure he has enough sunlight and take him outside. And once he had ri due to colder weather then, I took him to the vet when we
He was only 2 inches and had to give him shots for a week it broke my heart. And whenever I move about the room he would float on the water with his head high, and watch me as I go about doing some work. He doesn't even bite my hand when I go near and I can pet his head and he will sometimes close his eyes. And once I was tired and handling him I cover him just with my shirt like a blanket and took probably 1 hour nap and he stayed there under the shirt blanket. After you have been through so much you don't decide what is high maintenance or low maintenance. You have a turtle simply because you love it and want to give the best care for it.