My son's 7 year old guinea pig died over Thanksgiving, and he's devastated. He's mentioned maybe wanting another, but he's also interested in something with a longer life span (although guinea pigs are pretty long-lived...). I'd like a comparison of guinea pigs vs. chinchillas vs. rabbits. One issue I have is allergies. I'm allergic to guinea pigs, so the strategy I insisted on was daily cage cleaning with fleece/towels. This was a lot of work for him, but he handled it really well. I'm assuming I'd be equally allergic to chinchillas, but I've read that chinchillas tend to be hypoallergenic to at least some degree. Is this true? How do rabbits compare? Also, guinea pigs eat a lot of fresh foods and drink a lot, so they urinate quite a bit... What about chinchillas and rabbits? How do they compare as far as temperaments? He liked that his guinea pig was very mellow and enjoyed cuddling, and would probably be disappointed with an animal who was more standoffish.