Rachel, I don't know why it hasn't occurred to me before, but here's what
I did for my dog when she was an incorrigible puppy..........seems like it
would work for ferret's, too.  I'm lucky on that count.......my girls
aren't chewers.
 
Get a bottle of alum.  I think it's used for pickling.  It can be found in
the spice section at the grocery store.  Make a thin paste with water and
smear it on the items that are attracting Illura.  Let it dry.  When she
gets it in her mouth, it will draw the moisture out of her tongue.....kind
of a puckering effect and rather disturbing/unpleasant.  My dog hated it
and immediately stopped chewing, everything - even things I didn't put it
on!  It won't harm your belongings...wipes off easily...........
 
WAIT !........Just did a search on the web and came up with the following
(BIG, I also included the copyright information that followed the entry.
I'm not knowledgeable about that type of thing, but I think I'm okay
here) -
 
"Alum is used as an ingredient in baking powder and is used to give
crispness to pickles and maraschino cherries and to harden gelatin.
Alum can be a dangerous substance when not used properly.  Ingestion of 30
grams (1 ounce) has killed adults.  Alum is legal to use in baking powders.
In pickles and cherries, the amount usually left in the packaged product
amounts to less than 0.2 percent.
 
Alum is included in some fermented pickle recipes.  Research shows that
it has no effect until after the pickles have been fermented.  Then it is
used only in a soak solution.  It should be washed off thoroughly before
completing the recipe.  Do NOT put alum in the final pickling liquid.
Douche alum is not food grade.
 
While alum may be safely used to firm fermented pickles, it is unnecessary
and is not included in the USDA recipes for canning pickles."
 
1993-jf
 
University of Illinois,
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences,
Cooperative Extension Service
Copyright Information
Copyright 1995 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
Authors and publishers have granted permission for copies of this work or
parts of this work to be reproduced, provided that
copies are distributed at or below the cost of reproduction;
the author(s), publication, and the University of Illinois, College of
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and the relevant
division with the college are identified; and
proper notice of copyright is affixed to each copy.
The information provided is for educational purposes only. References to
commercial products or trade names do not constitute an endorsement by
the University of Illinois and do not imply discrimination against other
similar products.
 
After reading the excerpt above, does anybody have any thoughts on the
advisability of using alum for this purpose?  The amount ingested would be
teeny-tiny.....getting away from stuff is an immediate reaction.....another
site described alum as styptic, so that will give you an idea of the
effect.  Of course, my dog was much larger than a ferret, even at three
months.......but it did work!
[Posted in FML issue 2989]