Clarification/Introduction

[iisamuel]

Okay so I made my first post awhile back asking about my little girl Kecleon. Sadly even after taking her to the vet she didn't make it. I felt so bad because I was trying my best to make sure everything was okay for her. I talked to petsmart about it and they said they messed up selling her to quickly and that it sounded like on my end I was doing stuff okay.
I just got my new chameleon Friday and I could notice a night and day difference between the two.
My new cham (Pascelle or Elle for short) is doing much better I believe. I am making this post to try and make sure I am doing everything to the best of my abilities so Elle doesn't get sick also.

For some background info,
I live in Nebraska, US and bought my chameleon from petsmart (not the best idea).

I am 95% she is really a she,
She is around 3 to 4 inches tail extended I believe.
Her cage is automisted by a monsoon solo, every 4 hours for about 18 seconds.
I also mist occasionally myself if I think the humidity is low or cage looks dry.
Humidity stays around 58% to 68%
Temp in basking area (during day) is always 78-84 degrees.
The rest of the cage stays around/above 70
At night the lowest I've caught it at is 63 but fall/winter is soon approaching so I also have a ceramic heat lamp just in case but leave it off for now.
I am using calcium with no d3 every feed, which is about 30mins after I turn on her lamps for the day, I put 6-10 crickets in the cage after I feed her by just holding tongs near her so she can just eat from them which is usually around 3 she takes from the tongs itself.
I haven't bought a multivitamin yet but here that needs to be done twice monthly.
Also I bought a pothos plant that I want to put in the cage but am not 100% if it is actually the kind safe for her.

Right now I am just using the bulbs that came with the chameleon starter kit, and from what I understand I should look into getting one of the longer uvb lamps.

On another note she seems to be eating much better and moving more than my previous cham, however she is very shy and runs to the back of the cage when she sees me.

Questions:
1. Can someone tell me the proper way to clean branches and sticks I find outside so i can use those in her cage in order to give her more climbing areas.
2. Can someone tell me approximately what age she is, and at what age females need a laying bin?
3. Is moving away and hiding common for chameleons?
4. Any other tips / suggestions?

( sorry pics arnt great but she is really shy )
White circles are where she goes to hide
Red is where she can be found basking
Blue is the monsoon solo misting device nozzle

 

[iisamuel]

Also this is my pothos is it okay to use in with her?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Also this is my pothos is it okay to use in with her?

Yes

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Cleaning sticks - soap and water nothing fancy

Age 3-4 months

eggs can begin as early as 6 months but this is very rare 8-10 months is common

Very common to hide for the first two weeks, be patient

 

[Syreptyon]

Hey there, and welcome back for round 2. I hope we can help you make sure this one lasts! There are a couple big problems with your husbandry still.

(1) Supplements. You need three total supplements, not just one. Calcium without D3 at every feeding, calcium WITH D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month. Make sure to make this a priority. She will not do well for long without these, especially the calcium with D3.

(2) Misting. 18 seconds is no where near long enough of a misting time for a chameleon. They really need at least 2 minutes of continuous misting to initiate their drinking reflex. Monsoon systems are unfortunately very limited in their customizability and are notorious for breaking very quickly. I would recommend increasing the frequency of your hand misting sessions

(3) The setup of her cage needs a lot of work. Chameleons are antisocial animals and need a lot of options for places to hide. In addition, they are arboreal and need tons of things to climb around on. Your cage for her is very very empty, which will leave her feeling exposed and at risk of predation. In order to improve on this, you should add live plants (like the pothos you mention) to act as a centerpiece in her cage that will also provide more places for her to climb and hide. The last critical thing is that you need to provide her many many more horizontal climbing options. She will benefit massively from adding in some sticks, branches, vines, etc. at all different elevations throughout the enclosure to really maximize the surface area she has to work with. As it is right now, she really only has those two vines to crawl around on other than the sides of the cage. Remember, chameleons move in three dimensions. She needs options on the X, Y, and Z planes to be truly comfortable.

Oh and finally: get rid of that green hammock thing. They are not for chameleons.

 

[iisamuel]

Thank you for the responses, and yeah originally I had that there as a place to put crickets so my last chameleon would try to eat them :/ so I'll remove it.
And I was waiting to find the proper way to clean branches I find outside but I will get on that pronto,
I saw a bunch of stuff saying I should bake them or baith them in hot hot water etc..
So wasn't sure what the actual proper method was