Hygrometer placement?

[Rhian]

So I am super confused about this hygrometer. This is my first time having an animal that needed one, so it's not a fun guessing game.

I have one pacman frog in a 5 gallon tank, the temperature stays about 81F during the day and is about 76F during the night. I have basically been keeping the eco earth moist (but not soaking).

I have placed the hygrometer about two inches off of the substrate to alarming 90% readings that never went down, so I figured that maybe when I misted it was getting too wet or something so I moved it to the top of the tank. That led to more reasonable numbers, that dropped super fast even though there was tons of water on the tank walls and the substrate was still fairly wet and the humidity was a pain to raise once it dropped. So I put it more towards the middle and we're back to high 85%+ readings that never go down.

I know it's just a small 5 gallon, but I have a red light heat lamp and the substrate does look drier at the end of the day and I don't know which reading to trust. I haven't misted or added water since about a day and a half ago and it's still reading at 84% after hovering around 87% all day yesterday, is that normal?

[alane]

You can get just about any reading you want depending upon where you place it. I measure humidity right at the surface of the soil. I'm not concerned about humidity a few inches above the soil, as the frog will never get that high in this enclosure. So if my soil is wetted, i'm reading a high humidity.

Cocoa fiber media can absorb quite a range of water. If I am making 'new media' and have soaked it, it'll take days before I have to spray it again. I usually wait until I see the surface drying out a bit. I also give it a stir to see how moist it is underneath. In a few weeks, you'll develop a 'touch'. I have a humidifier that is hooked up to a hydrometer and it helps keep a small part of my enclosure moist, but I still need to fuss with it a bit to make it perfect, sometimes it'll drench an area needlessly.

I think it is fascinating how little froggy drinks. Just buries itself in damp soil and over the course of a few days, it can soak up so much water that it appears comically bloated.