Yeah.. something doesn't sound right. You'd actually be surprised about some (but not all!) reptile rescues. Some take in animals regardless of sickness or not, then it causes an entire ordeal in their established animals. I saw this first hand with a rescue, and they lost some really great animals to a virus.
I even have some snakes who will rest their head against the side of their tub like that. But since she was in the freezing cold, she could be doing that due to an RI to let the mucus drain down.
Star gazing is when they look straight up, whether leaning again the side of the enclosure or not. But when they lean against the side of the enclosure during a star gaze, their necks/heads will arch back a little (something I've noticed first hand at the rescue with multiple boas). When they don't lean again the side, it is pretty much straight up staring right at the ceiling.
Try out some of the things Angelica suggested and let us know what you observe.