Quote Originally Posted by Ringo View Post
I was wondering if you all would consider an emperor scorpion to be a safe classroom pet for both middle and high school age students. This would be for a science class. I am absolutely scared to death of spiders for some reason but they really freak me out big time. I have seen these scorpions in local pet stores and think they would make interesting pets for students. I am just wondering if there are any safety risks of having it in the classroom.
Yes, this a perfectly good species to use. I use them for handling demos at schools and at shows.

Emperors are more likely to pinch (you do not want to get pinched-adults can do damage) than sting. There is always the risk of getting stung or pinched.
The other issue is the scorpion being dropped-regardless of age. if they do sting, it is pretty mild venom however, there can be reactions to the venom.

I rarely have had an issue but I recommend buying from a breeder (captive bred species) and not a pet store.

I have handled emperors from different breeders and I have only been lightly pinched once and it was a "I am done being handled" pinch.

Keep in mind that Emperors require humidity so you will need to mist their enclosure often.