Help me build the perfect tank for a b-day gift...

[Vypyrz]

The enclosure it is in right now is 3 feet wide, 1 foot in depth at it's narrowest points (the two sides) and 1.5 feet at its thickest (where it bows outward in the center front), and 2 feet tall.

Also, I'm going to build the new tank 2 feet tall only and tell him that 3 feet is just WAY too big. The guy at the reptile shop today was showing me some tanks and talking about ball pythons, even showed me some in their environment. I explained to him that the snake loves to go upward a lot and he said that's fine but 3 feet is still too much.

I've really only been over there in the day time. So i can't really say if it's ONLY during the day, or both day and night.

Also, another question... should i have any plants in there? or fake plants? vines? what would you suggest? what do they like?

Ball Pythons are nocturnal. They should be sleeping most of the day and mostly be active in the evening and night. About the only time you should see them out in the daytime is if they are moving from one hide to the other or getting a drink of water. Excessive daytime roaming is a sign of stress and is a problem. I suspect that the 2ft height of the enclosure is the cause. I had the same thing happen with my first Ball Python and when I moved him into a shorter tank he calmed down. These are snakes that primarily live in the ground and aren't too fond of tall enclosures. The best thing that I could recommend is when you build the enclosure, go ahead and make it 3ft tall, then install a shelf to divide it. Make the snakes living space about 15 inches tall. Then you can add some shelves and doors to the other section and use it as storage for supplies or a place to mount the thermostat and keep the wires out of sight or something like that. I know 15" doesn't sound like much, but BP's just tend to do better in tanks that are 12-15 inches tall. Plus it will be easier to regulate the temps and humidity.
Fake vines are ok to use in tanks, you just have to make sure that there aren't any sharp points to injure the snake and check the ends to make sure that there aren't any loops for the snake to get hung in. Hopefully this will help and at least give you a direction to think in...