@Roman

Not all rat snakes are arboreal. Also juvenile retics are arboreal and often yearlings and larger can be found in branches and stuff, but do you see people providing climbing space? NO.

It's not cruelty because you provide them with other means of hiding versus climbing. Especially when using artificial heat and lighting, this is because if a thermostat gets knocked loose or something like that it can get hot enough to do some damage to the rat snake, so for the new keeper yes I would easily recommend a terrestrial setup versus an arboreal for that simple fact.

While yes, I kept mine in a terrestrial cage but gave them branches to climb on which they did. I also clearly stated that I never had this species so if you're going to quote me, then quote the whole post. Rat snakes are highly variable with localities and such.

Providing no climbing for a Green Tree Python would be cruelty though.