could this be trouble down the line? (heat panel positioning)

here's how I put them up. I've got a Retic in there and it just seems that if she chose to hang out up there she'd rip it down. Any suggestions?

You've linked to thumbnails, so it's a little hard to see the details, but I can tell where you have a large gap around the heat panel.
I would say yes, the snake will climb up there at some point and possibly tear down the panel. You just have to assume that the snake will explore every inch of his environment, and any such weaknesses will be discovered.
That tight ares would make a nice little place to hang out, but as he grows and has to wedge himself in to get in there the pressure may be too much.
I've found that any electrical cords for lights running inside a cage must be stapled down very well or the snake will get under those as well, and a shelf area like that would be much more inviting than just a wire to hang from.

If you need to have the panel offset form the ceiling of the cage like that I'd suggest you design a base for it that reaches out to the perimeter of the panel just to be sure he can't damage it later on.
Is that spacer that keeps the heat panel from sitting flush actually part of the panel?

just edit the link where it says =sm to =lg