I have a question with regards to Bitter Apple.  I have heard too many
myths about this already, and I'm hoping to get some reliable info.
 
There is a store in Ottawa's East end which is actually fairly decent when
it comes to ferrets.  Staff seems reasonably knowledgeable and caring about
fuzzies and all ferrets are given a lot of constant handling, so they tend
to be very comfortable with people when they get sold, and trained not to
bite.  I was a bit concerned when I first heard this that they might be
accomplishing this through nose flicking.  However when I asked I was
pleased to see the clerk look shocked at the suggestion.  He said they
would never do something like that, what they do is coat their fingers with
bitter apple and, in the most extreme cases, spray a flicker of it directly
inside the ferret's mouth, making sure it goes nowhere else (like the eyes).
 
My question is precisely about this.  The bitter apple ingredients list a
20% dilution of isopropanol.  Could a bare flicker of this inside the mouth
be very harmful for a ferret, if used *very* sparingly?  In the most
extreme cases, it seems to work very well as a deterrent (coupled with a
lot of loving handling and attention, teaching the young fuzzies to trust
humans and associate them with pleasant things).
 
Somebody posted a couple of days ago about a little female who constantly
*bites*.  Somebody answered yesterday that treats to help associate human
handling with good things are paramount (combining both positive and
negative reinforcement).  I could not agree more with this.  Both of the
females we have were extremely competitive and willful at first, testing
all the time and drawing blood on a regular basis.  We used scruffings and
blowing on their face but we also gave them *a lot* more of love and
rewards.  It takes time (months in our case), but they turned into real
loving sweeties.  I think the love particularly helps a lot, if you can
hold them lovingly even when you have to scruff them, understanding that it
is their nature to be restless and slowly and gently stroking them lovingly
while speaking in a soothing and reassuring tone of voice to them.  They
come around really fast, and come to love you in return.
 
Oh, another thing.  I've found that my hearing ferrets go into absolute
bliss when playing classical music to them, particularly opera.  Has
anybody else noticed this?  They are great fans of --of all possible
choices!-- Wagner in particular.
 
Cheers,
 
Jaime
[Posted in FML issue 3052]