I have a male western painted, males are smaller than females so he's pretty small for an adult. IMO he's easier to care for than a RES because he's small & doesn't require a tank as large as RES needs. That's just my personal preference.
I've found that what makes the difference in whether or not turtles & reptiles in general are easy to care for depends on equipment. Start out with the right equipment: appropriate sized tank, heater, filter, lighting, & it's easy. Get everything they need first, then get the pet.
If you don't then you'll spend too much time struggling to get the set up right & in the meantime the turtle could get sick.
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PHRatz

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• best "beginner" turtle? - stage9, Sat Oct 29 15:22:19 2005
• RE: best "beginner" turtle? - turtlemh, Sat Oct 29 17:49:33 2005
• RE: best "beginner" turtle? - stage9, Sun Oct 30 07:04:47 2005
• RE: best "beginner" turtle? - PHRatz, Sun Oct 30 09:44:32 2005
• RE: best "beginner" turtle? - turtlemh, Sun Oct 30 14:53:02 2005
• RE: best "beginner" turtle? - TheTurtleStore, Sun Nov 6 09:07:58 2005
• RE: Not painted - erico, Tue Nov 1 23:03:08 2005
• RE: Not painted - spycspider, Mon Nov 7 14:40:27 2005