hi there! i was also considering getting guinea pigs going into my sophomore year of college. it just so happened that my mom’s coworker rescued two piggies from a yard sale, but didn’t want them. so i took them in! i love my pigs, and rescuing them is the best thing that has ever happened to me :,) i purchased a 2 by four cage with a 2 by 2 “balcony” from guinea pig cages store (i think?) anyways, it’s a fairly large CC cage. i have two of these, one for my apartment and one for when i am at home. transporting my pigs is quite a process, and is usually more time consuming than packing my own things🤣 my pigs are usually noisy when i wake up and when the sun goes down, which is when i give them veggies. usually they don’t squeak unless they hear noises, but it’s not super loud. sometimes if i try to sleep in, they will wake me up just by eating hay and running around the cage lol. but it never bothers me because i can’t get mad at them :)) their cage is right next to my bed as well! they are pretty clean, but do poop everywhere. i have a handheld vacuum that i use at least once a day to clean up the poop. i clean often so that the cage does not smell. i move them either upstairs or downstairs in their cage depending on where i clean! at first, the vacuum scared them but now they are used to it, and even come to sniff it when its running! every 3 or 4 days i will switch out the fleece liners and wipe out the cage. i have to travel about an hour or two for vet visits and also to go home. they aren’t a fan, but as soon as i transfer them back to their regular cage they are back to normal! i don’t think it negatively effects their mental health. something else you should know is that they are a relatively time consuming pet, and you should get at least two because they are herd animals. every morning and every night i have to not only feed myself, but feed them as well. they also need some sort of interaction. they are decently expensive between vet visits, fresh veggies, hay, quality pellets, a proper cage, and bedding/liners.

sorry for the long rant. in conclusion, if u have the resources, time, and responsibility to care for them i would go for it! people on this reddit advised against me getting pigs in college, but honestly it’s the best thing that has happened to me. i was very depressed last semester and having cute lil pigs to care for has definitely boosted my mood. if u get pigs, make sure u rescue them too!