Hi,
Welcome to the site.
One of the best bits of advice I can give is have the setup up and running for a week or so before you plan on getting the actual snake - there is always some last minute tweaking and temp adjustments to be done and it is a lot easier with an empty tank.
Also buy a good book so you have something to do in the first week where you leave the snake to settle in - otherwise it will be all you can think of.
dr del