Well, for me, if my cage smells, then I should have cleaned it a loooong time ago! I never have smell problem. Sometimes I can smell the hay, but the hay doesn't smell bad or anything.
I don't use fleece, so I don't know how it compares.
Females and males can both be very nice and outgoing, or shy. It doesn't matter the gender. Personally I prefer sows over boars because:
1. I don't have to clean the genital area with sows
2. Boars tend to rumble strut when around other boars, and sometimes have dominance issuues(females can aslo)
3. Males spray and scent mark more often.
4. I plain just don't want boars. Sows also tend to get along a little better with each other then boars(just from my experience)
But overall, both are good pets, it just depends on what YOU like. Newpiggiemommy is right, they all have VERY different personalities!
As long as you play with your pets most of the time, one busy day won't hurt them. A thing that you need to keep in mind though, is to make sure you parents are 100% ready to pay a high vet bill if your pets become sick. Too often parents are unwilling to take the pet to the vet, because they ignorantly think,"the pet isn't worth it." This is NOT true. So just make sure your parents understand their part of the deal. Good Luck!!
