I have had ferrets and Guinea Pigs, so I'll tell you what I think of them.
Guinea Pigs:
I
LOVE piggies! I unfortunately had to rehome mine due to my ferrets trying to kill them and my monetary situation becoming tight enough I couldn't care for them properly, but I would
love to have them again.
They are extremley personable. The one thing I miss the most about them is when I walk in the room I don't hear them wheeking in greeting. They would see me and give them most adorable "wheeek-wheeeeek!" noise and come up to the cage bars for nose rubs.
They do need a proper diet, and that can get a tad bit pricey depending on what your options are. Good quality timothy pellets as a staple, with grass hay (timothy, orchard, blue grass, etc.) being offered at all times. They also need fresh veggies at least once a day. Mine loved romaine lettuce, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, and spinach.
Baths don't hurt (although I never bathed mine), they do need their nails kept trimmed (mine were always good for it), and they come in a wide variety of coat textures, lengths, and colors.
They do better in pairs, as they are very sociable, but boars may fight. If you don't want to be stuck with a female/female pair, you can neuter the boys.
Unless their cage is just HUGE (10.5 square feet for a pair of pigs), they really do need out of cage time every day. When mine would run around they would follow me like puppies. LOL I only had 6sq feet of cage space for them, and if I skipped a day of out of cage time Louie would get very depressed/anxious and would practically try to leap out of the cage every time I opened the door.
Young pigs are really wiggly and hard to handle, but I highly, highly reccomend adopting an older pig from a rescue. You wouldn't believe how many Guinea Pigs are surrendered. I've had four pigs, three of which were rescues - and my rescues were my favorites! I mean, how can you not love this face! (I miss my piggers.
)
www.gunieapigcages.com has a really good forum on it with a lot of informative members who would love to answer any of your questions!
Ferrets:
Oh, boy, where to start. These little guys are not for the faint of heart. They poop everywhere, they tear everything up, and they are constantly getting in to things. But, I love them.
Kits are CRAZY. (And incredibley cute!) They require a LOT of time and energy. Just like puppies they each have their own quirks and exercise needs, but on average I would say if it can't be trusted loose all day, at least plan on two hours in the morning of playtime and two hours in the evening of playtime at a bare minimum. My two are satisfied with less now, but they are seniors. And Dameon will still keep me up all night if he doesn't feel he had enough "awake" time (even though I have them loose in my large bedroom from the time I get up to the time I go to bed) by digging at the cage door and chewing on the bars - and they are in a Ferret Nation 142 for a whole eight hours while I sleep.
Ferrets are about as expensive as a cat or two, so don't go in to one thinking their upkeep will be cheap. It isn't. The litter and the food costs get up there, especially if you have more than two. (And don't forget all of the hammocks, hidey houses, beds, blankets, treats, and toys you are going to buy every single time you walk into a store because your ferret *needs* that.)
Litterbox training can be a pain. Mine are "litterbox trained" and they still poop elsewhere about 15% of the time. Any corner is fair game, and if they pick a corner you better put a box there. It gets annoying very quickly and that is really the one thing I dislike about them. (Having them on carpet in my bedroom doesn't help, either!) They climb, they dig, they raid fish tanks, and they push everything they can off of shelves just to see if it will break.
They are very friendly, super playful, some are cuddly, they can walk on a leash, they have wicked teeth and need to be taught serious bite inhibition when they are kits, their nails must be kept trim, they can be taught tricks, they have a faint odor, their poop stinks, and they are AMAZING. You'll either love 'em or hate 'em, I don't think there is room for in between. They are like perpetual kittens, only these guys dook and hop around! LOL
If you are seriously considering some ferrets (not just one, remember...at LEAST two!) I highly reccomend picking up the book
Ferret's for Dummies. It has everything you need to know and more.
And besides their pooping habits, I don't think I'd change anything about them. They are great. I mean, just look at him.