Hello, I'm new to this board and figured this would be a good place to get some knowledge on ball pythons. I did have a corn snake a number of years ago but I was perhaps a bit in over my head at the time and had too many animals in general (several came from friends who gave them to me and a couple even reproduced) so in a move that I still regret to this day, it was among the animals I eventually rehomed. Fast forward to now and I feel it's almost time to give owning a scaly noodle another go. But this time, I want to do it right, by the book. Thusly I've dived into research and have watched videos and read articles from several sources to mentally download as much information as I can, but even then I like the more personal advice from such places as this.

To start off, I currently have an empty 30 gallon tank (36"X12"X16") that's already on a nice cabinet stand and everything. It's for fish so the lid would have to be replaced, but the question is should I even bother or go straight for a recommended 40 gallon breeder that's both easier to access (since it's shorter) and offers more floor space that ball pythons enjoy. Or should I start with that if I get a baby and upgrade later since I've heard conflicting messaging in terms of "too much space" when snakes are young?

Next is location and humidity. Where I live the weather conditions change frequently with the seasons (and even by the week/day sometimes) so I've been thinking of putting the enclosure in the basement where it's more stable (the basement is a finished one and I'm down here a lot by default). Would that be ideal? For reference I plan on using coconut fiber substrate since from what I've heard it strikes a nice balance of retaining humidity while not absorbing it too much and rotting, plus its visual appeal and safety if ingested on accident (as I'd like to do in-tank feeding, did out of tank feeding last time and would rather not again if possible).

Then there's heating. Going to do a UTH, but then my question comes with lighting. I know ball pythons don't necessarily need it, but given mine will probably be living in the basement I'd like to give it light so it can have a proper day/night cycle. But with heating already covered, does that mean I can simply do something like attach a regular lightbulb to a lamp so it doesn't add too much heat? Or would that be too much still? Also, I've read that if you want more humidity you should put the water bowl over the UTH (I am aware you keep the UTH itself outside the tank though). Is that a good idea? Does it evaporate the water too fast or make the water too hot?

As for general supplies I know to get things like an infrared temperature gun, humidity gauge, a timer device with thermometer (forget what they're called), hides, decor, ect. I have a general idea of what types I want to get but I'm open to suggestions and recommendations.

With mice/rats, would it be more cost-effective to buy in bulk online or would it still be cheaper to do it locally since it'd for one snake? I fed live last time with my own colony (which was part of the "overwhelming" issue, got to see firsthand how cannibalistic mice can be) but will adhere to frozen/thawed this time. With that in mind, how long do they keep in the freezer? As in, could I buy a year's worth to store or do I need to buy in smaller batches? And is it okay to refreeze if the snake isn't hungry?

And easily the least important part but I might as well put it here, but seeing as I'll only have one snake I'd like to have something with a little pizazz if you will. Have set my eyes on (and forgive me if I get terminologies wrong, have only recently even heard of the thousands of morphs let alone studied them) piebalds and axanthics. The ultimate prize would be a lightning pied (which from what I understand is a combination of the former two) but that's far and away beyond my budget and the others is already pushing it. Otherwise, a piebald with a half/third of white blotches or what I think is a "base" axanthic (the ones with the wild form pattern but in black/gray/white, looking as if it just crawled out of an old cartoon) would be my ideal choice if I can find one that doesn't break the bank.

Thanks for reading, hoping to have a good time here with you all.