You didn't mention that you disciplined them in any way when they bite -
only that you used a foul taste on your hands.  A nasty tatse just sort of
makes you taste bad and it doesn't really modify the behavior much.  Like
any animal you need to discipline them and train them not to bite and it
sounds like you need to do it soon before he(?she) get ingrained.
 
Some people still advocate a smack or a scruff/shake but after working with
a couple ferrets and dogs what I find works really well is this: make their
mouth hurt with your hand/finger still in there.  With a dog (usually a
puppy that isn't breaking skin, just playing) they will bite down on your
hand at which point you grab their muzzle and squeeze.  It hurts them more
than you would think so be firm, not mean, and they will VERY soon try to
push your hand out of their mouth.  The alternate method, and this works
better with ferrets, is to push your hand/arm/finger into their mouth until
it hurts and they will push it out.  The trick is to be **very careful** not
to hurt their little jaws.  What I end up doing is when they bite a finger I
scruff them at the back of the head and push in with my finger with a single
stern "NO" and hold it there while they try to push out the finger.
 
I've only ever had to do this three times per ferret and four with dogs
(cute, but not so bright) to get the point across.  You potentially loose a
little blood so a little common sense regarding your animal is in order, but
if you get them while they're nipping and before they really learn to BITE
then you'll both be happier for it.  The same method can be used with phone
cords and extension cords for a quicker learning time.
 
-cav
 
PS:  I just re-read your post and realized that I misunderstood how you
used the linatone, but the above still applies. (I was wondering how you
thought using linatone would make you taste bad...)
[Posted in FML issue 1709]