I'm sorry to hear about Dizzy. And i's OK to cry about it. I'm 27 years old, my boyfriend is 28 and when I lost ym Kukui this past september, we were both in tears.
People think our chameleons are "just another lizard." They aren't. We spend so much time on our chameleons. It's like a child - and the way they study us with their googlie eyes, it makes me wonder if they are as interested in us as we are to them. There is something there, something clicking in that little brain that makes us fall in love with them. Not to mention the way they change their colors from light to dark, as if it's as easy as breathing. I think we all wish, on some level, that we could be as openly emotive as a chameleon...and when they pass, we are still scared to let it all out.
As for the cage, when Kukui passed, I cleaned it real well with a natural soap, cleaned the cage again with water, let it sit outside for a week or so, drying, cleaned it again and finally rubbed it down in olive oil, a natural anti-bacterial. Then I waited about a month before getting my new chameleon, Bubbagump.