 This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only. |
Pet Cetera offers fish and aquarium supplies as well as some reptiles, birds and small creatures
| Location |
| 616 4th Street |
| adjacent to the Davis Bike Exchange |
| Hours |
| Mon-Sat 10am-6pm |
| Phone |
| (530)756-0170 |
Pet Cetera was a small, privately owned pet store that primarily stocked fish and aquarium supplies, though some smaller animals and reptiles could be purchased as well. Pet Cetera also offered aquarium plants, feeder fish, crickets, live brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp and saltwater aquarium supplies.
From the earlier writeup: The elderly owners, Ron and Peggy, are an interesting couple. Peggy irritates many Wiki users, while almost everyone considers Ron to be quite helpful, knowledgeable and polite. Because it is a small business, the shop doesn't offer the breadth of supplies found at chain stores such as Petco. They set themselves apart by trading fish. One can donate or trade fish that are getting too big or mean for their owners to take care off. They are also willing to order supplies and even fish that they do not normally stock in the next available shipment. The owners seem to place a low priority on marketing, preferring to rely upon their reputation to cover rent. Though the shop is attached to the Davis Bike Exchange, the two businesses are separate and operated by different owners.
To find other businesses to satisfy the needs of your pet or to find a companion, please visit our Pet Stores page.
As of June 15th, 2007, Pet Cetera is closed.
*shrug* the wife has always been nice and helpful to me. they have a better selection of fish than at petco and other creatures, and a better, healthier selection of aquatic plants. — MarkSabugal
I was really pleased with pet cetera, actually. The wife wasn't there, but the man at the desk was incredibly friendly, and gave us some good tips (even though we were just buying a snail.) They also have some really cool exotic reptiles; a creepy king snake, two adorable frogs, and my brother got an enormous toad there. For other shops and pet-related services see Pet Stores. — MaggieBlank
I am extremely UNIMPRESSED with Pet Cetera. The woman is very VERY rude. I've never met the man. The Yellow Nape (I can't remember completey, I think it's a yellow nape) Amazon they have there is severely abused. It is on an all-seed diet (HUGE parrot no-no) and is housed in a VERY small cage. Yes, it is out of the cage every time I go there, but the cage is way too small for a parrot of that size. It has one perch in the cage, as I recall. The treatment of this extremely intelligent animal is bordering on neglect... — StaceyGalbreath
I go here to get crickets for my lizard, since the ones from ACE Hardware chirp and the ones at Petco are too small. The woman is usually quite rude, possible since I only make $1 purchases. The man there is friendly. The store always seems poorly lit and has very bad stock, there is almost nothing on the shelves compared to most stores. — AllisonEriksen
Agree with other comments...We used to buy our goldfish there,but stopped because they would always die or infect other fish. The wife will always deny the bad quality and would interrogate me as to other pet stores I went to and then would bad-mouth them. The husband was always friendly though and even gave me free fish meds on occasion. — MyaBrn
The parrot's name is Jingles. The only time she's in her cage is at night when she's sleeping. It looks healthy and happy to me. Ron is nice, Peggy can be extremely nice but is very intolerant of ignorant/rude people. It is pretty frustrating to have person after person come in and tell them "I put 10 fish in my 10 gallon tank yesterday and they all died. Help me!" They are the only place within 25 miles of me that carries live brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp, Angel Formula, and DTs phytoplankton (all for saltwater tanks), so I go there fairly religiously. — JeffSpeckles
Somebody bashed in their front window last night. :( — JeffSpeckles
I thought this was supposed to be an "informational page" not a gossip column by individuals neglecting to provide their qualifications for diagnosis on the physical/emotional state of Jingles. Thanks Mr. Speckles, for the info on what they sell. I've gone in there pretty religiously for the last 2 years, I have 4 snakes, 3 frogs, a toad, 2 dogs and a cat. I don't really care how nice or rude pet store owners are, I go there for quality products and good advice not crafty salesmanship. Ron and Peggy's advice and care about animals have helped save the lives of many of my rescue pets. They sell used aquariums as well as new and can order anything you need in terms of supplies and equiptment- their fish assortment is great and their amphibians and reptiles are in great shape (unless otherwise stated-which you won't get before purchase at petco or animal kingdom I guarantee! Karena Skinner
2006-02-20 17:18:15 I'd rather not list my qualifications to say so (my own privacy), but yes, you are correct that they have healthier fish than Petco and Animal Kingdom, in general. Fish carrying parasites are EXTREMELY common. Often times the parasite will not manifest itself until the fish is bought and placed into a customer's tank. The only way to prevent the infection of your current fish is to provide a quarantine tank for your new accquisitions. There is no fish store in the world that doesn't carry diseased fish, and that's a fact Jack. ;) It is YOUR responsibility to prevent the spread of disease. Not theirs. —JeffSpeckles
2006-02-20 22:33:11 What's with the woman? I recomend removing pickle from butt-region. —MichaelGiardina
2006-02-27 15:30:22 We've had very good luck with Pet Cetera. Peggy and her husband are both nice to us, and have a great selection of fish. —JoeMinewiser
2006-04-21 14:16:30 I love this place. They have the best selection of fish around. I've been going there for years and they've always treated me right. Ron is very willing to share his knowledge of fishkeeping with you if you ask him questions. —TiffanySnell
2006-05-01 00:02:11 Every organism in the world carries diseases, right now as you type this you're surrounded by germs on your body and in your gut that can multiply and ravage your body...haha...it's just a question of how much the immune system can repel the germs. So you need a stress-free environment for your fish to prevent disease, not a seller's guarantee —RitchieLee
2006-05-26 17:38:37 This is the THE place to buy tropical fish in Davis. They sell quality fish. I've bought about 10 over a year and all of my mine have survived just fine (I already have well established fish tanks). Avoid the wife, she's very rude and I'm even a regular! I guess she just seems to rush me and seems annoyed if I'm just browsing. The husband is awesome and quite knowledgeable. He's up for trading fish, for example if you're breeding or a particular fish is mean or getting too big for your tank. He also said he could order specific fish for me in his next shipment when I asked him (but I haven't taken him up on it yet). Maybe you need to do some regular business to get these sort of deals, I do not know, but he's pretty nice. My biggest gripe is that I sometimes see dyed fish, which is terrible. Always a decent and changing selection, seems like there is a fairly high turn over rate of fish. Oh yeah, and the prices range from average to cheap, so it can't be beat! —JonEvans
2006-10-13 15:18:32 I used to refer to Pet Cetera as the "used fish store." As the above posters have stated, there's a pretty high turnover rate in the tanks, and I suspect that most of the fish (particularly the dyed fish) that Ron has were donated or traded in. One of the koi angels in his plant tank used to be mine. For some reason, there's also an electric catfish that shows up for sale in one of the tanks from time to time. I think, but I'm not sure that it's the same one. This is hands down the best place to go for healthy tropical fish; every visit seems to reveal something new and rare for me. And yes, the woman was quite mean to me the first few times I went in. She's nice to me now, but I think that's only because I remained polite and patient even when I got the cold shoulder. —ByronChin
2006-10-15 13:05:22 Good selection of fish for a small store. Ron is knowledgeable about most of the fish but seems not to be very familiar with many of the cichlid species (if you're interested in these talk to Doug in the Ace pet department). As far as the wife being rude, the only evidence I've seen of that was when some guy was letting his kid smack on the glass of the tanks. She (actually pretty nicely) asked the kid to stop, the guy got all huffy about how the store wasn't "kid friendly." I felt like saying something to him myself. —TonyBraim
2006-12-30 15:29:17 Today was the first time I have been yelled at in a store.
I brought in a red devil to donate to Pet Cetera. They have taken many of my donations in the past, but I understand that a 7 or 8 inch red devil may be hard to fit in their tanks, so I was prepared for them to refuse it.
When I pulled the fish out, the guy smiled big, grabbed the jar and started walking to the tanks. His wife yelled at him. Then she started yelling at me. It was along the lines of “Why didn’t you call first!?”, “We can’t take that fish!?”, “Who do you think you are, bringing a red devil in!?”.
But the situation was literally out of my hands because the guy was busy at the tanks making room for my fish.
I have had many pleasant experiences with Pet Cetera in the past (chiefly with the guy), but the yelling and scolding I experienced today has completely soured my opinion.
The guy is nice. He’s friendly and helpful and knows what he is talking about. The woman is a horrible person. If you go to the store and you see her there, turn around and walk out.
2006-12-30 16:40:20 Add me to the list of people that have been yelled at by the woman. Literally - Yelled at. I can't imagine what would make anyone so grumpy. I typically avoid the place; I find fish stores like Capitol and Exotic in Sacramento to be worth the drive.—PeterAnselmo
2007-01-05 20:02:21 I love this place. Prices are quite a bit lower then Petco's prices. Their fish are way healthier too. I recomend all my friends go here for aquarium stuff. The couple is very knowledgable and friendly if you take time to talk to them. Though I have seen where the lady gets craby... probably because of the war. She blames all her problems, including her dad's stroke, on the war... —TealPeterson
2007-01-11 13:29:54 HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I was KICKED OUT of Pet Cetera about 2 or 3 years ago because my 2 year old was asking too loudly to look at the fish. He was asking to be picked up to look at the fish, he was not touching anything or bothering anyone. The lady there told me that his behavior was unacceptable in her store and told me to leave. I was completely amazed at the HORRIBLE rudeness, and being a downtown store owner myself I proptly informed of her terrible customer service and told her that I would never treat my own customers that way. She didn't seem to care, but in a small town such as Davis bad customer service WILL eventually catch up to you!! I think these people need a lesson in customer service. I'm not too sure how they actually stay in business with their rudeness and the terrible rundown look of the store. They must have really cheap rent or be selling something other than pets on the side!!! I have not been back to their awful establishment in years and do not plan to EVER AGAIN!! -Leia Hewitt —LeiaHewitt
2007-05-23 15:09:42 Pet Cetera will be closing May 27 and are selling their supplies at a discount now (30% off new supplies and lots of used stuff as of May 19). Help them clear out and get a good deal for your aquarium. —RSwenson
2007-05-23 15:36:08 Maybe its better that they are closing. We had 2 50 gallon tanks and were experienced fish owners, but every fish we bought from here got sick and died within days. We eventually stopped going and got all our fish from Capitol. —MyaBrn
2007-06-14 14:24:08 Did they go under? All the tanks have been removed and it looks shut up when I passed by it the other day? —CarlosOverstreet
2007-08-24 14:10:04 ='( but where do I get live brine shrimp from now? Capitol?! —StevenDaubert
What was your experience at Pet Cetera?
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