My guys have had a dig box for a while. Originally I used rice in the box, but as the kitchen floor is white I never could see the pieces they would fling out and would inevitably step on them. To be so tiny, those bits of rice sure do hurt! I switched to unpopped popcorn. I can get a 50lb bag at the local warehouse club for not a lot of money. The weasels seem uninteresed in eating them and I can see them on the floor after an enthusiatic bout of tunneling. The dog is prone to want to munch on them, but they don't seem to harm her any. If you want to use the starch peanuts, you might try calling businesses around town. I know we get more packing peanuts in at work than we can handle and a lot of them are the starch kind. You might find a company that will give them to you. Just a thought. Anne [Posted in FML issue 4729]