In my experience males are more cuddly and friendly and females are more playful and independent but that can vary critter by critter.
Ferrets don't require any more vet care than your average pet - that is a huge misconception based on people not keeping them properly and winding up with problems. I've had ferrets forever it seems and aside from the very first shots as kits they never had to go to the vet. Ever.
Vaccinations is a tricky subject. Aside from the first distemper vacc and the rabies at one year I do not vaccinate. But I also do not vaccinate my other pets aside from minimal/only rabies. This is thanks to Vaccinosis - which is prevalent in ferrets. Most ferret health issues are diet or age related. Look up Vaccinosis and make your own decision on vaccinations. I had pets die from vaccinations and working in a vets office for a while/volunteering I saw plenty of other vaccination caused or enhanced medical problems.
Food wise, ferrets are really quite easy keepers. Avoid most commercial ferret diets. A great food for ferrets is Diamond Naturals Kitten formula or Diamond Naturals Active Cat, or Felidae Chicken and Rice. Main thing to know is no corn or soy products should be in the food, as much identified meat as possible, limited or no by products, and limited grains(rices/barleys) Meat meal is ok as long as the source is identified. Ferrets should get a minimum of 30% protein in their diets, preferably higher in the 36-50% range with a minimum fat content of 18% with 20 and 22 being best. Always make sure that the meat source is identified such as turkey, chicken, lamb, herring, etc. Never feed a food that just says "meat" or "meat meal" etc as this could be anything from roadkill to animals too sick/not fit for human consumptio, euthanized animals, etc.
Litter training. Very simple... you need lots of litter pans. You can make them easy and cheap out of plastic storage containers like sterilite or rubbermaid (make sure the sides are at least 6" high) and for litter I use pellet form rabbit food.
Playtime - I personally limit my critters to one room and fully ferret proof that one room and have them out of that room on a leash and harness only or in a play pen. This is the best way to avoid accidents and injuries and/or loosing your fuzzy critter. It is more difficult to litter train a ferret outside of the cage than inside the cage. You will want a litter pan in all major corners and may have to learn from where they make a mess to find out what area they prefer/watch them to see where they prefer and catch them(put them in the litter pan) before the mess happens.
I use a plastic kiddie pool, one of those cheap 18" high round fishy patterned bright blue stiff plastic kiddie pools as a playpen. Cheap and very effective but you do still need to watch them or put a cover on it - you'd be surprised how well they jump and climb!
Main things for maintenance are making sure they have no mites/fleas (quite easy) and trimming the nails. Some ferrets require a bit of conditioning for nail trimming, others it is easier to scruff and trim using a helper. The best way is with a hairball preventative paste/nutrical suppliment put on their belly, they lick it off and you clip their nails while they are busy. They need to have their nails trimmed every 2-3 weeks.
Those are the basics.. my critters are very easy to keep, they only cost me about 15$ a month as I buy the large bag of food and I get the litter in 50# bags and suppliments last several months.
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