I bought Henry the boa when he was about 22" long. My wife told me she wasn't gonna live in the same house with a snake. Either she or the snake had to go. Since my son, then about 3 yrs old liked it so well she calmed down just a bit and finally even touched and picked it up occasionally. 26 yrs later when Henry, now 7 ft long had gotten old and stopped eating I had to finally put him to sleep and that dang woman was still around.