Good Starter Tort

A small sulcata would be ok in a livestock trough, but forget it for an adult. Those suckers get HUGE. I used to work with an 80lb one who was angry at the world. He charged me once.. yes, tortoises can charge! Usually they're very sweet though.

I wouldn't recommend leopards as a starter tort. they require excessive amount of attention and can turn on you in a heartbeat. one day they are feeding and active, the next the need urgent vet care. Sulcatas are hrdy but huge, redfoots are smaller and hardy but still a little big for the average owner. best starter pets are russian or hermanns torts. Check out kingsnake.com classifieds for tons of breeders. Again, the cheapest will be Sulcatas, don't give in to temptation.

Russian torts are the best begginer torts because of their small size. Other torts get to big or are hundreds of dollars.

I forgot to mention Greek Tortoises, they are small friendly and pretty cheap too. :d

if you go to any tort sites they will all say to get a Russian for your first. maby a Greek Tortoises. ether one will be a great first time tort for ya. look at it this way russians will require a 4 ftx2ft area for their cage. and they are the smallest tort. so any thing bigger will need a much bigger cage like 8ftx6ft. that is just a little bit smaller than a bedroom in a small appartment.

fish

some good reading for you.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/1caresheets.htm
the torts are on the bottom

Yeah...I would go with the Russian...we have one in one of the huge rubbermaid bins(as reccommended by a russian tort website) with mulch as substrate....he is a great lil guy...I have seen babies go for about $100 and adults go for a little cheaper. They stay small and are quite hardy.

I would suggest a nice little Russian Tortoise, the only drawback is that they are rarely bred in captivity (as with many other species of tortoise).
Russian Tortoisesare great for begginers along with there tolerence for beginner husbandry mistakes (within reason) and are all around full of personality.
If it means anything out of all the tortoises that we recieve we get calls on Russians the least. Sulcatas are number one rescue drop offs, leopards come through and a variety of other species.
Let us know what you decide!
Rusty