I think practicing is a good idea. I pretty much did exactly what you are planning to do. I bought a breedable normal female before breeding season started and had my first clutch with her. It was disastrous to say the least. Long story short four babies made it to the end, one died in the egg, the other three I cut open, and they were a mess. Deformed, kinked, split bellies, it was awful. I had to cull the three that lived because there was absolutely no hope for them. This year I have four girls that are breeding for me and I'm very thankful for my experience last year. I made a new incubator, I'm going substrateless, and hopefully those two things fix whatever problem I had last year.

When you get your female get her early in the year. Some females won't breed after the stress of shipping, I'm not sure what the odds are, but it's something to be aware of. I was lucky enough to purchase my female from a friend who lived nearby so she didn't have to be shipped.

Good luck!