First of all, since I've been lurking, let me introduce myself.  I'm the
very proud mommy of the sweetest 8 fuzzbutts in the world! :-)  I'm also mom
to 1 full grown ferret-loving (and so far, kitten-hating) cat and 3 new
rescued kittens who haven't figured out why these funny looking "cats" kiss
'em to death.  Needless to say, if I see a pet store, my car pulls in.  :-)
 
It's been my experience with the Petsmarts in Houston (I frequently visit 3
different Petsmarts here) that they are far from educated about ferrets.
While they do have a good selection of products, I have found rodent chew
toys and other non-ferrety items (some very dangerous to ferts) stocked in
the midst of ferret supplies.  I've specifically asked about pelleted
newspaper litter and the employees (including manager) looked at me like I
didn't know what I was talking about.  They've also not been willing to
special order products for me.
 
However, I also frequent 2 different Petco stores here.  Because there are
ferret owners working at both of these particular Petco's, I've found them
to be very educated.  One of the Petco's even keeps their ferrets in cages
and allows people free access to pet the fuzzies, as opposed to that
horrible octogon shaped enclosure that everyone hates.  While they don't
have the best selection, they have always been willing to special order
whatever I request.  And while prices may be a little higher than Petsmarts,
they have FANTASTIC clearance sales (ok, I just bought over $150 worth of
animal supplies and pelleted litter and spent less than $25 for it...I'm
prejudiced :-) !)
 
I think the key point here, however, is the knowledge of the individual
employees and the policies of the individual store managers.  If the
employees of a store are ferret-knowledgeable, then you're going to have
better luck.
 
Mary Reeves, her 8 fuzzies, 1 ferret wannabe, and the 3 kittens
[Posted in FML issue 2321]