Quick question that's totally unrelated to everything - are you a boy or girl? I thought you were a girl, others are thinking you're a boy. What is it? I want to make sure everyone has their pronouns correct.
Secondly, it's not overcomplicating things by getting a thermostat. It's actually simplifying things. Without a thermostat, you have to check the temps multiple times per day. When i didn't have one and was just using a rheostat, I would check the temps every 3 hours. Now that I have thermostats, I check the temps maybe once per day. It's one of those things where you can "set it and forget it" so if you go away for a weekend, you can have more peace of mind knowing that your snakes aren't too cold or too hot.