Are AcuRite temperature/hygrometer gauges junk?

I just got my first ball python in a "kit" if you will from the person rehoming her. Animal Plastics t10, Pro Products heat panel, Spyder Robotics Herpstat 2 and the cage goodies. She told me the temps/humidity ranges she researched were best (and have worked for her for a while with this snake) but the probe died on the trip over here so I've been having to play thermostat myself with the heat panel. I was confused on some readings on these AcuRite gauges as the hot side was staying around 90 like she told me, but humidity was lower than the cool side. The temps on the cool side seemed fine but the humidity was higher, even though 1 water dish is nearly under the heat panel, and the other is just to the side of it around the middle of the tank. So, I took the gauges out, removed the batteries, and set them next to each other right here in front of my computer as I type this.

They've had probably 10 minutes to acclimate to where they're sitting and one (the hot side one) is reading 81 f with 43% humidity (the house is probably closer to 75 or so degrees actually) while the cool side one is reading 79 f with 47% humidity. With these 2 gauges being the same model, how can they be so far off from each other? I'm counting on these to help me maintain my new snake's habitat. Is it common for these to have a 3 or 4 degree/humidity reading error range?

I just purchased a locally made enclosure that's essentially an Animal Plastics t10 clone and will be getting some more products to hold a second snake (not sure if I want another ball python or maybe like a kingsnake or something different) so I'll be purchasing more temperature/hygrometer gauges. Should I just buy a 4 pack of something else and toss these or what?

Thermometers like that are more for a quick temp check to make sure you aren't horribly out of range, they aren't super accurate. I just bought a three pack and they all read different values when tested against each other. A temp gun is better for accurate temps and to check all over the cage. You can buy a replacement probe for your herpstat.

I've had several different digital gauges and almost all of them ended up failing if they were inside the cages. I ended up putting one on each side of my snake room and just use the readings as a guide. In my high humidity guys like ETB and GTP I do have a gauge but is actually one of these that are really cheap. I have several and have tested them inside my cigar humidors next to my calibrated humidor gauges and have found them to be surprisingly accurate. Other than that I rely on my temp gun for the surfaces of all my cages and perches.

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Perhaps ill keep them but just heat gun it when the probe gets here in a couple days so it'll start regulating itself. I need to find out why the cool sides humidity is so high though compared to the hot side where the water is.

That’s just how humidity works in relation to temperature. Warmer air can hold more moisture and thus is less humid outside during the warmer part of the day and cooler and more humid at night. No different in your enclosure.

Also unplug that RHP immediately until you have a functioning thermostat/thermostat probe to regulate it.


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I agree to unplug the RHP until you get the probe. That's a nice one and they can really warm a spot.

Heat kills humidity so if you have a overhead heat source like a bulb, CHE, or RHP they zap the humidity. Thats common.

The simplest fix instead of worrying about the humidity for the entire case is to just put damp moss is both hides. I did this for a long time and still do at times. Works great, is easy, and takes the stress out of getting a good shed.

I have always used the Frog Moss and the XL box gives a good amount.

The gauges finally did somewhat "normalize" to pretty much the same figures, it just took like 30 min or so. The new probe from Spyder Robotics came in (this one is steel tipped, the old one was plastic) and got it installed. I did a master reset then followed a YouTube video to set the probe to dimming (a Pro Products heat panel) and set daytime temps to 90, and nighttime to 88 I think and set the internal time. I think I set daytime from 9am to 9pm but it doesn't really matter. Back on the main screen it's showing 84.8 currently and 100% and the AcuRite on the hot side is showing 82. I know it'll read and refresh less quickly than the probe but we'll see if the Herpstat 2 starts showing different info when it reaches 90 or when it hits the time change I programmed in. Hope this works so Kurt Russell will be a happy little snek.