best pet turtle???

Question
My neighbor is wanting to get her 6- almost 7-year-old son a pet turtle of some kind and she's wondering what is the best kind to get him. She was thinking some kind of a box turtle or something. She would be the main care giver, but he would help with basic things, changing the water bowl daily or whatever, but she'd do the important stuff like prepare it's diet, clean it's tank, give it meds if needed etc. But she wants a calmer turtle that wouldn't be predisposed to biting him if he wanted to pet it, but she also doesn't want one that will just sit inside it's shell all day and never come out, water turtles are almost out of the question, because he wants one he can interact with a little besides dropping food pellets in the water each day. What do you think of a box turtle for them, or should they just find another pet altogether? He's had hermit crabs and things in the past, so they are used to having to provide heat and humidity when needed for a pet, so that's not too much of a problem and surprisingly he's very gentle with pets, as he absolutely adores his hamster even though it has bitten him in the past.

Answer
Sometimes this job is very easy!

Get him an Eastern or Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrepena carolina carolina or T. c. triungus). Easterns are prettier, Three-toes are a little hardier. Functionally, go what what you can by.

If at all possible, get a captive-bred- it will do better (and wild caught is increasingly illegal.

They can learn everything they need to know at http://www.boxturtlesite.info