My wife and I are pretty die-hard animal lovers and through a bit of trouble with my 29g planted aquarium, I happen to have two of these tanks (30" L x 12" W x 18" T) available that I do not trust to hold water. My wife has already claimed one for a Crested Gecko that we will be getting in about three weeks, and once that terrarium is settled I would like to get a Ball Python for the other one.

I've been doing a lot of reading, and I consider myself a conscientious pet owner so I'd like to get a some opinions form more experienced herp owners to ensure I'm not making any missteps.

I have already:

29g Aquarium
Zilla Wire Mesh Top w/ 8 clips

I'm planning on purchasing:

Under tank heater - 8" x 8" or 8" x 12"
CHE bulb/lamp
2 identical hides
Large water dish
2 digital thermomter/hygrometer combos

For decorations (I greatly prefer the natural look) I was going to make a background out of polystyrene foam coated with sand, painted and sealed with a hard matte sealer, a substrate of repti-bark or coconut fibre over a repti-carpet base, and a combination of driftwood and plastic plants.

The terrarium will be in my basement which does have a very low average temperature, so I don't want to undersize my heating pads or CHE.

Does this sound like a good start? Anything else I need to consider?

Thanks!