Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking for just the right turtle, my first question is what species stays the smallest throughout it's life. I am looking at razorback musks right now.

The various species of Kinosternon and Sternotherus all stay fairly small (most under 5" carapace length). Razorbacks are actually fairly large for a Sternotherus.

red cheek muds!these little guys are super awesome,personable little turtles.so full of curiosity and personality,not to mention being very colorful,compared to the rest of the muds and musks.
-----
1.1 cb spotted turtles (parker(f),stinky(m))
0.0.1 cb baby red cheek mud (pickles)
0.0.1 cb baby chiapas musk (chomper)
0.0.3 wc baby stinkpots (inky,blinky,&dot)
1.1 wc eastern mud turtles (george & jane)
1.0 cb eastern painted turtle (fred)
0.0.1 mississippi map (lil' dummy)
0.0.1 cb ally snapper (gamera)
0.0.2 red-eared sliders(kaelan's classroom pets,summer babysitting)
1.0 cb06 albino corn (rusty)
0.0.1 cb07 apalachicola kingsnake
0.0.1 wc halloween crab
0.1 irritating cat (sassy )
2.0 cb children (sidney,13 & kaelan,5)
0.1 wc wife (danae,age withheld due to fears for personal safety)

"my name is inigo montoya...you killed my father.prepare to die."

I'm not necessarily set on the mud or musk turtles, I am looking for the smallest adult turtles throughout all family's just to clarify.

Bog turtles are even smaller but are threatened in the wild and hard to come by in captivity. There are a few other small emydids, batagurids, and tortoises, though none much if any smaller than muds and musks.

Also, be aware that adult size is not a perfect predictor of the amount of space needed. Active swimmers like most emydids and batagurids and burrowers like tortoises and other terrestrial turtles need more space. Kinosternids are definitely the best way to go if you want a turtle who won't take up much space; you can easily keep two in a 20 gallon aquarium.