Not sure where you live but I would at least monitor your ambient temps in your room. If you feed your ball python and your temps go below 80F it could kill your snake, this is especially true with colubrids, if you feed them a few weeks before hibernation they can't get rid of the food in their system and will die. Not sure what the minimum temps are for ball pythons but I would imagine it's around 80F, especially since you don't have a hotspot. Most snakes will eat and then sit on the hot spot (90F) to digest. You could get a heat tape and thermostat and plug them into a 'Kill a Watt' to monitor your electricity usage, I'm guessing it wouldn't be more than a couple bucks a month. Ambient temps should go no lower than the mid 70's. Ideally a room temp of 82 is perfect, but heating the room would be more expensive than a heat tape and thermostat. If your room is cold (mid 70s) it's probably OK since the snake will just hang out over the hot spot all day. If you can afford it I'd also get another heat lamp and a separate thermostat to keep your 'cold side' at 80F. If your room goes down into the 60s I'd say you have a serious problem. Or if you live in the tropics near the equator you may not have an issue LOL.
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