Yes, or better yet a blacklight bulb. You can get a human heating pad for $10-$15 at WalMart that will probably allow you to do without the bulb altogether, which will make maintaining proper humidity levels easier. It's usually a lot easier to maintain proper temps than proper humidity, especially in an enclosure with a screen top.

Next, it is definitely better for your snake's hides to be opaque. He should be able to feel secure in them, including hiding from light and from you. They don't have to be anything fancy, but snug, secure, dark, and with a bit of weight to them are what ball pythons prefer. You can buy fancy hides at the pet store or use something simpler like terra cotta plant pots with a hole knocked in the bottom and smoothed or rocks cleaned with bleach water and stacked securely. One of mine even likes to go under his water dish, which is like the dish in FourFeathers' recent post of either Breeze or Roswell under the pictures section.