Our male Ambilobe is really fresh. We put some gloves on when taking him out of his cage. He tries to bite but usually just threatens. But with the gloves on, it's OK if he does bite us. We put him on an extra tree while we're cleaning out his cage and he hangs out on there till he calms down and we're finished cleaning. Once it's time to put him back in, we put he gloves back on, pick him up, and he's in.
Make sure you're not grabbing your chameleon from behind, but your fingers up to it's chest and she should just step right on, then you can lift slowly and she'll bring her back legs up. That's how we handle our chameleons and it seems to work (even though Shooter tries to act like a tough guy).
EDIT: Lights should be on no longer than 12 hours. Our lights are all on timers. They go on at 9 and off at 9.