sudden death of 3 small animals

Question
I am a long time pet owner and have never experienced this before.  Two weeks ago my 1 1/2 year old pet mouse died suddenly ( I found him in his wheel). One week later my teddy bear hamster died (at least 3 years old, but we adopted him so we don't know his actual age) He appeared to have died in his sleep, but his eyes were open.  Just today (one week later) I found my dwarf hamster dead in his wheel.  They were all housed in the  same room in separate cages and fed the same mouse/hamster pellets and seeds. The dwarf hamster was adopted approximately 6 months ago. This was the source of the seeds.  The room also contains one 6 year old bunny.  None of these animals showed any signs of illness.  The temperature is between 63 and 68 degrees at night with no drafts.  Could this be a contagious virus or food contamination?  What should I do to protect the bunny and our new teddy bear hamster?  I would appreciate any thoughts on this.  Thanks, Colleen

Answer
Wow Colleen,
That is really sad and I am sorry to hear that.
First of all, I have to state that most of these animals died at an age appropriate to their breed.
Mice don't usually make it past one and a half nor do hamsters past the age of three.
But the fact that the dwarf hamster also died make me a bit suspicious about the feed being contaminated.
I am not sure what you mean about the dwarf hamster being the source of the seeds but I would stop feeding whatever you have a get some fresh food and put it in a fresh container. Take the old one and throw it out or bleach it.
It is very easy for seeds to get moldy and harbor organisms that can cause some major problems for rodents.
I would also buy fresh rabbit food too.
As far as the teddy bear goes, they almost always have their eyes open when they die, just so you know. So the mouse and the teddy bear could have just died of old age but I would suspect the feed for the 6 month old one.

If you can afford it, you might want to take the food to the county agriculture dept and have them test it for molds and fungus.
Then you would know for sure.
I hope this helps somewhat but I am sorry for your losses.