Olives are awesome snakes to keep. iv had snakes for more then ten years and now only keep olives as far as pythons go. If you get an olive don't expect to have a small temporary enclosure for long, because they grow really quick if fed. (5-6 foot as yearlings) Olives are obsessed with birds for some reason. so be careful not to feed qails, ducks, pigeons or chicks for a while young id recommend only feeding rats until the snake gets some size on it, then your olive should just be a bottomless pit, that will eat anything. The last thing you want is a little olive hatchy stuck on chicks or qails. I don't recommend your boyfriend going any where near an olive unless he's been around yours long enough and is a "snake person" with a snake person mind set. If he's still a nervous and has an uneducated on basic snake keeping or any idea on he's mind that snakes are a novelty or doesn't take your snakes seriously etc but is only kinda open to the idea of being around yours. then maybe YOU should get an olive python and just get him a play station 4 or something. I don't really like the idea of people giving animals as gifts most of the time unless you tell them before you do and are prepared to care for them (even if you both break up, hopefully not!)
A massive olive python with food on its mind will try to kill you and is no joke. Carpets arn't as bad they'll just slowly relise food is being offer and then just snap up the rat or what ever offered. But olive pythons hahaha. will just go ballistic. Moving extremly quick pasing the enclosure trying to kill ANYTHING. To a point where I don't recommend feeding in the enclosure, put the large snake in a tub. Also your going to need a decent hook especially when older. The snake at a young age will show signes of being ballistic at feed time so you will know what to expect in the very near future, it will just be on larger scale.
Also please post pics when your boyfriends arm gets wrapped up by the 8ft present, just kidding. they are great snakes. They arnt fish, Gtps or bearded dragons they are pretty hardy and easy to keep that don't need much, just a few things to keep in mind the no joke feeding response and they can get stuck on birds depending on what individual you get. But you will most likely get an individual that will eat anything, is docile 98% of the time and is a great pet and they get big. Reptile keeping shouldn't be seen as pet keeping, they arnt pets. it should be seen as keeping animals that are unpredictable with things always possibly going wrong and identified by their scientific name or common name, not a stupid given name, that just encourages a non serious take on animals that don't tame and defend them selfs at anytime they feel like or even try to literally eat you, wrapping your arm, hand or neck up. Not one second should anyone look at them in an unserious way and to those who do, I hope they get smashed by their trusted 'pets'. My herp room contains not one pet. Nothing has a name. Even with big pythons its no joke. That being said I never get bitten "or tagged" and my snakes are always healthy and that's exactly the attitude that avoids little situations that can be easily avoided.
Good luck and I do recommend getting an olive.