I think what you'll find is that on the internet if there are 10 people having a discussion you will get 11 different ways of doing something.

I at one point in my life have used every possible method of heating my ball pythons (CHE, bulbs, UTH, Heat panels, etc). For my ball pythons and the ball pythons that I have rescued, I have seen first hand that over head heat sources can cause crinkled eyes, bad sheds, and overall low humidity. I use and reccomend belly heat used in conjunction with a thermostat and some method of creating the correct ambient humidity for your animal. I also additionally reccomend humid hides if needed. This is my personal preference.

I think the moral of the story is that there are no absolutes. You can try something and if it doesn't work, try something else. Don't stick with it because someone on the internet told you. Only use the internet as a guide and don't be afraid to experiment until you have a setup that is just right for your ball python. In the end the choice is yours.

If two people both have ball pythons and both of those snakes eat well and shed well and are healthy, and one person uses UTH and the other person uses bulbs, who's to say which person is doing it "right"? Seems to me like the only "winner" would be the snakes!

Hope this helps.

-adam