I applaud you for doing your research before hand! This is many peoples first mistake and ends up costing them a lot of money.
I personally like to start out with hatchlings. It is a great experience to watch them grow. Especially the first time around. The catch is, you will need different sizes of housing as they grow up.
Since I use tubs this makes it really easy. I use a 15qt for a baby (but you could do smaller) and a 32 qt for a juvenile or adult.
I really don't think you need to buy two thermostats right off the bat...unless you are going to expand your collection in the near future.
Ball pythons don't need any supplemental light. They mostly just need a period of darkness since they are nocturnal. Just some ambient light, or turning on the room lights sometime during the day is fine.
Sounds like you are on the right track though!
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