Alinda,
 
I'm a comparatively inexperienced ferret toy so I'd get other opinions on
this method of biting prevention before trying it.  What has worked for me
is shoving my finger down the throat and holding it there firmly for a
couple seconds.  My ferret, Gus, hates this much worse than a slap on the
nose.  He seems to bite even worse when I slap him on the nose, but when I
jam my finger down his throat he becomes quickly repentant (for a few
seconds) ;-)  After a couple weeks of this, he now bites very rarely and
quickly remembers his lesson when I repeat the correction.
 
Mark
 
[Posted in FML issue 0803]