@shaun9628, I very much like the furnishings and arrangement in your set-up. These pythons do like to bask but will also happily derive heat from body contact with a warm surface. The thermometer placed in the middle of the heat gradient is a super sensible thing to do. It seems evident that the snake is using the climbing branches provided and that is really good to see.
@daniel casullo, there is a lot of conflicting information out there for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is more than one way to ‘skin a cat’ and it is possible to achieve the desired results doing things differently. Then there are those that simply reiterate what someone else has told them, without trying it. There are also those who have had a snake for a few months, and because it is still alive spruik about what they have done it, even though the long term effects have not yet been seen. Then there are commercial sellers who adopt whatever care advice seems simplest to increase their cash turnover. No doubt there are other reasons.
So how and where do you find good information? The first thing I would be doing is joining the local state library. Then I’d look for the most recent publications of care of the species I have or intend to acquire. Information in a hardcover book is much more likely to be reliable. Anyone can jump on the net and write whatever with no checks or balances on it. Whereas a hardcover book has to be good enough to recoup the costs of publishing it and is put through an editorial process. I know it is much easier to jump on the net, but being discerning in your research is a skill unto itself.
Hopefully you have discovered that diamond pythons require cooler conditions than other Morelia species. This is likely related to the fact that they are the most southerly distributed python on the planet. There are plenty of accounts of difficulty in maintaining and breeding diamonds kept indoors, especially when they were first being kept. Yet snakes housed in outside aviary-style enclosure have demonstrated longevity and regular breeding. In fact, when not given access to cooler temperatures, they tend to have a considerably shortened life span, and many show signs of what is called Diamond Python Syndrome. So what is required indoors to avoid this?
The following information is based on written and verbal information from successful keepers. Firstly, diamonds should always have access to temperatures in the low twenty’s or less (i.e. below 25). Secondly, they should be provided with a significantly shorter daily basking period compared to other Morelia. Four to six hours, provided in the morning to early afternoon, is more than adequate. As long as they have access to suitable hides /refuges where they can coil up and conserve body heat, no heating is normally required at night. Where the ambient temperature inside the enclosure consistently drop to single figures, a mild supplementary heat source might be appropriate. The preferred body temperature (PBT) for diamond pythons is most commonly quoted as 29oC or close to it. Given this, a basking site temperature of about 32 – 34oC is appropriate. I hope this helps to clarify the temperature issues.