If there's a window in the room, you don't need any additional lighting and a red light 24x7 is fine.

In my experience with ball pythons, their feeding and basking habits are definitely reflective of the amount of light (no matter how insignificant) they are exposed to during the day. All of my snake rooms have florescent lights that are cycled on and off during the day. During the non-breeding season, I use 14 hours of "light" and 10 hours of "darkness" in every room.

-adam