Not trying to say he has a good idea, but they do grow slow compared to the large pythons. But all that aside, they aren't a good starter snake at all. I have one and I love her to death, but it was only after hundreds of hours of research and owning a tiger retic that I decided to pull the trigger. I'm not sure where you are on the issue with him at the moment, but if he still wants one tell him you WILL NOT take care of it and that it's care is on his hands. They can get to almost 100 pounds at 10 foot in length. They are the heaviest bodied snake in the world and will break 300 pounds eventually.

snake room