Scorpions are good pets in general.

=Lethality= My opponent ignores the bulk of my argument regarding the harmful effects of a scorpion sting. The crux of my argument revolved around the fact that scorpion stings are more harmful to elderly people and children.I never asserted that scorpion stings are dangerous to everyone but to a certain group of people they can be. The Mayo source was being used to show that if children are stung it is advisable to take them to the hospital. My argument in this, which you have largely ignored, is that this eliminates a group of people - those with small children - from likely owning a scorpion. Mother's are very protective of their kids and won't want something that can lead to a hospital visit living in their house. The resolution is that they are good pets in general. However, they are dangerous to elderly people and young children.My opponent claims I did not adequately cover the pet point but he dropped my claim about elderly and children. My opponent claims that elderly and children only make up 33% of the population but that is 33% of the population who might not want a scorpion living around them. That is 1/3 which would cause scorpions to not be good pets in general. But good pets for middle aged people only. My opponent then claims that scorpions aren't dangerous at all because you shouldn't touch a scorpion at all. Doesn't that eliminate a population of people who want hands on pets? Pets you can touch and deal with? Either you can't touch the scorpion or you touch them and risk getting stung. Either way, those are limiting characteristics. =Ease of Care= I used the Emperor scorpion because they are the the most popular and becoming the most common pet scorpion so actually my facts were more general than yours. If you're going to get a pet scorpion chances are you'll be buying an Emperor Scorpion. [1] If you get a pet scorpion there is a larger chance than not that you'll get an Emperor Scorpion therefore my facts were relevant. Also, my opponent can't even refute the facts other than to try and discredit them meaning he concedes that scorpions are not as easy to care for as he made them out.=Longevity=If you did not want people to assume popular pets are popular because of their life span why did you draw the comparison? Also, I could not find data outside of personal experience and the data I offered earlier. The most popular pets list is sprinkled with long lived pets (cats, dogs etc) and short lived pets (mice, hamsters etc) meaning that there are those who like long lived pets and there are those who enjoy short lived pets.If someone wants a short lived pet they'll most likely not want to buy a scorpion and therefore scorpions exclude another group of pet owners. =Most Popular Pets= Scorpions share very few traits with the pets on the most popular pets list meaning they probably are not a very good general pet.My opponent then states that scorpions are arachnids. Arachnophobia is the fear of arachnids. 50% of all women have Arachnophobia. [2] 10% of all men have Arachnophobia. [2]This excludes a HUGE percentage of the population from owning a scorpion. Even if they aren't bugs persay, they hold many common qualities with bugs in:sizeshapenumber of legs type of movementBugs or not, many people could view them as such.=Conclusion= - Scorpions are dangerous and require medical care if they sting children and elderly people.- Emperor Scorpions are most popular and common scorpion pet type and they are difficult to care for requiring specific humidity and heat needs.- Scorpions are arachnids and exclude many people with arachnophobia.- Scorpions are long living and do not appeal to those who want short lived pets. Scorpions are not good pets for the general public.Thank you. [1] http://www.drsfostersmith.com... [2] http://frontlinechurch.org...