Quote Originally Posted by RobNJ View Post
That doesn't look like defensive striking, and doesn't appear to be a snake under any sort of stress. So here is my theory based on what I saw in the video...

As the OP mentioned, the snake came out pretty much right after he started warming up the rat pup. Obviously looking for it's food, it was picking up heat signals from the heat lamp sitting right over the fake foliage, and since that was the only thing it could make out carrying any sort of heat with the scent of rat in the air, it was striking at the leaves.

To the OP, I doubt there's anything wrong, but if it concerns you at all, I'd suggest picking up the pace a bit or shutting your heat source off a few minutes ahead of time.
That was exactly my first reaction when watching the video. Try turning off the heat lamp AND taking it off of the screen top before offering the rat. Those bulbs take forever to cool down. Let us know if this helps.....