How Does a Death Affect Chinchillas?

It's been a bad week for chinchilla pet owners. We received two e-mails about chinchilla deaths.

Stephanie writes... I had two chinchillas, but one has just died. I'm not sure how, but I'm wondering how can I help my other chinchilla that is still alive from getting depressed on me and keep up with his hyperness and happiness so I don't end up losing him too? If you can please help me I would be so grateful. Thank you.

And Cassandra writes... I had two chinchillas and one died last night so I have one left.
Their cages were right next to each other and they would play through their cages with each other. I'm wondering if my chinchilla can die from stress of losing the other one? What precautions should I take and what I should look for? It would be great help if I can get some information on that please. Thanks.

Infolific answers... We've had one of our chinchillas die. It's hard to know how the remaining chinchilla(s) will react to the death. Our best suggestion is to spend time with your remaining chinchilla. Aside from providing comfort, you should also watch for changes in behavior. If your chinchilla continues to run around and play, then there is likely nothing to worry about. If, on the other hand, your chinchilla won't leave the cage and is particularly skittish for a long time, you may have to look to other techniques. What those techniques are, we can't say. Our chinchilla "moved on" on her own.