4 chinchillas that died?

First instinct tells me is was a contaminated or substance in the food or water. Could be a mold on the food. Anything that strikes them all the hard and fast has to be very severe.

Second, could it be CO2 poisoning ? Any chance of that or improper ventilation... any other volatile chemicals or scents that would have been present?

I would not recommend plastic toys for any rodent to chew on, these can cause many problems, but I doubt it would kill them all at the same time.

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. It is never easy to loose a pet, let alone the whole family at the same time.

It sounds like you were taking pretty good care of them and have most of your bases covered.

I will mention though that, if you get new chinchillas, get chinchillas of the same sex so they don't have babies. If you have babies and keep the dad with the mom (you really need to keep them separated unless you're specifically trying to get babies and they need to be separated immediately after they're born), she could end up with breed-back and really hurt herself. Also, please don't give them any plastic toys, it can hurt their digestive systems.

My best guess is they all caught the same disease at the same time. The problem with chinchillas is that they don't show signs that they are sick until it's pretty much too late to do anything about it. It's a survival technique because predators tend to go after the sickest looking one in a herd. This is why weighing them every day is extremely important. If they're sick, their weight will drop dramatically days before they show any outward sign of sickness.

One thing you may consider doing is taking one of them to an exotic vet and have them do an autopsy. We did this to one of my birds who suspiciously died during my vacation. We found out through the autopsy that my cousin, the pet-sitter, hadn't been coming around enough and my parrot starved to death. It gave us closure and gave us a warning about her. They may be able to give you a definitive answer about how they died, they may not, but either way, it may help you to get some closure.

Sounds like poison. The vet could tell you if you take the animals to them and ask them how they died. An autopsy would cost some money but at least you'd have an answer.

45 years ago, my two hamsters chewed and ate rubber toys in the cage. They died after biting my sister. My dad paid for an autopsy, to rule out rabies, and their digestive system was totally blocked up with rubber pieces.

For all of them to have died overnight it had to be something in their environment that killed them. The best way to find out is to take one of them to the vet for a necropsy.

It really sounds to me like they got into some type of poison, I can't imagine 4 healthy animals just up and dying overnight.

Mites. I had two chinchillas and the both died suddenly. When I brought the bodies to the vet to find out why, he said they got mites and the mites infected them with some virus. It was very sad.

It sounds like disease...they must have all dies from the same thing...what have they eaten food wise? Perhaps it was contaminated before it got to you? Like in the factory?

is there a carbon minoxide leak? check your boiler! they would die sooner than you.... just a thought. its a silent killer.

i think take one to the vets, its a mistery which i know i would like to get resolved - sorry for your loss.

It could be something the dogs gotten into! It could be alot of things.. Like somebody kicking the dogs and cause bleeding inside and no one wouldnt found out. Or somebody poison them! It could be ANYTHING!!!