Who says they don't appreciate height?!

[Skiploder]

Wasn't expecting this to turn into such a debate!

Pretty sure the temperatures are fine. It was probably right about 86 where she was hanging out, maybe slightly cooler than the ground with the heat pad, but if she wanted she could easily thermoregulate by moving to the other side of the tank. At one point she was sort of hovering her head in the direction of the heating element, but most of where she was hanging out was an area that would pretty much have an average tank temperature, so not really much different from most places.

And there are like 10 different potential hides in there, so there's no lack of that. She's in one now looking pretty normal.

The humidity was a bit high, so maybe it was that?

And regardless of anthropomorphism (no I don't seriously think the snake wanted to be seen--I did say "almost like") I don't think it's unrealistic that if it were in a new environment, exposed to a lot of confusing stimulus, it might look for a place to survey its surroundings from.

We apparently live in a world of absolutes - did you not get the mem?. There is no way on God's green earth that a ball python would climb a branch unless it was for one specific reason and one reason only. Without knowing one thing about you or your snake I can account for the behavior of that snake. Remember - think in terms of absolutes!

Haven't you learned a darn thing? Only 50 pythons in one area of Nigeria fluctuate from this norm - or so claim those who spend their lives with their heads in warm holes.

Ball pythons live in tupperware drawers in the wild - preferable 41 or 28 quart with undertank heaters set to precisely 88 to 91 degrees. They feed every 7 days on rodents and rodents only. This talk of tree climbing, bird hunting ball pythons is obviously an anomaly and once we talk to the real experts, the record will be set straight.