How much different are ferrets from rabbits?

Totally different.

Ferrets are carnivores, so they are a bit more like a cross between a cat and a dog when it comes to temprement. They are incredibly active (when they aren't sleeping :P) and much more inquisitive than bunnies. Ferrets generally lack any sense of caution. They seem to think they are impervious to pain so you have to watch them to make sure they don't injure themselves sometimes.

I took my old boy for a walk down a jetty and the first thing he wanted to do was jump off the side. My new fuzzy likes to leap out of the top level of his cage onto me.

Most bunnies aren't that stupid lol.

Ferrets are carnivores so it is important to feed them the right food. Spoiled meat can make them very sick but mince, frozen rats, mice, etc (depending on the size of the ferret) chicks, etc are all good tucker for them. On top of that you want to give them a good quality kitten or ferret dry food. Ferrets have increibly fast metabolisms so they really need access to food 24/7 -it is difficult to provide access to fresh meat for this.

Vaccinations- the only one you can vaccinate ferrets for in Australia is distemper and to be honest, it's not really necessary. In Australia they vaccinate with a reduced dose of the dog vaccine, and they use a live culture which has been known to infect ferrets with the disease.

Cages? Depends on where you plan on keeping them. Many people keep ferrets inside the home with fleece bedding, or you can keep them outdoors as long as they have protection from the heat and the wind. Ferrets do not cope well in the heat so if it is going to be warm you might want to bring them indoors to keep cool.

I don't breed them, so I don't know too much about this aspect of it, but I have heard they can be tricky to breed. Keeping them in the right conditions would help, though.

I don't hunt either, but you need to train them to come when called (rattling a can when feeding them, etc, will teach them to come to a rattling can when ferreting) and then apparently you start working them on small warrens to build up their experience.

Basic care:

First off, rabbits are herbivores and ferrets are obligate carnivores, meaning they cannot digest plant matter.

Food for rabbits is much cheaper. I got a huge 50 lb. bag of rabbit food for about $20 at the feed store, while an 11 lb. bag of ferret food is over $20.

They both poop constantly. They should both be in a decent sized cage. Both should get a good amount of out-of-cage time every day. You have to watch the rabbits to make sure they don't chew on anything, and you have to be careful to block off any and all small places a ferret could get into where you can't get them out. Ferrets like to steal stuff and stash it in certain spots.

They both do something similar when they're super happy. Ferrets war dance and rabbits binky. Both are cute and fun to watch.

Toys:

Rabbits pretty much just need toys to chew on. Ferrets can have tunnels, feather teasers, little balls with rattles in them, etc.

Vaccinations:

Rabbits don't need vaccinations. Ferrets should get a distemper and rabies vaccine every year.

Exercise: They pretty much do it themselves when they get their out-of-cage time.

Breeding:

Rabbits is easy. Put the female in the male's cage (NEVER put the male in the female's cage - she could very well kill him!) Does don't go into heat like other animals. She ovulates when bred with a male. Let them breed, then wait for babies. Intact does tend to be kind of snobby and have mood swings. Intact bucks tend to spray and display other undesired behaviors, but neutered males make excellent pets. (Intact females can still be pretty stuck up and moody after being spayed).

Ferrets... are VERY difficult to breed. The jill and hob must BOTH be in season. If the jill is in season, but the hob isn't, then he will have no interest in her. Hobs are VERY aggressive in breeding. It sounds like he's killing her (a lot of screaming, running, crying), but he has to do it otherwise she won't ovulate. Pregnancy is often very hard on the jill and it's not uncommon for several, if not all, of the kits to die. Breeding ferrets is not something for the weak hearted.

Training ferrets to hunt rabbits - that, I have no idea.

I would think very carefully before getting a polecat. They're not like ferrets - they're much more aggressive. Even polecat/ferret hybrids have highly aggressive tendencies.

Your flag under your name says Australia, you should be aware that some parts of Australia ban keeping them as pets.

They are very different to rabbits.

You should not consider breeding ferrets if you've never had them as pets before, they are hard to breed.

It's really far too complex a subject to cover here, you should consider buying and reading a book before bringing home ferrets.

Two guides I recommend are "Ferrets for Dummies" and "The Complete guide to Ferrets" by James McKay. The latter is better if you want to use them for hunting.

I had a couple ferrets and i just can't stand them. Their like grumpy cats and their sneaky and when they bite they go straight for the vein and they don't let go it's horrible. I ended up getting rid of them and I got a bunny and I had it for about 10 years and he was my buddy we would snuggle on the couch and watch tv and he would follow me around and he had full freedom of the house cause I litterbox trained him. I used to take him on walks an everything. Make sure if you do get a rabbit you get a bunny and spend alot if time with it as a baby. The more you do the nicer it will be