Store of the Month – August 2025

Pet House

5781 Calle Real
Goleta, CA 93109
(805) 967-7716

Website: pethouse.org
Facebook: facebook.com/PetHouseInc
Instagram: instagram.com/pethousegoleta/

Our store of the month for August is Pet House! This store has been a staple of Goleta, California since 1941, and carries all sorts of supplies for birds, freshwater fish, reptiles, insects, small mammals, dogs, and cats.

When asked what inspired her to own a pet store, owner Andrea Navarro replied, “I never really planned to purchase a pet store.  I started working at Pet House in college and that’s where I met my husband.  He was an employee at Pet House and we were pretty much inseparable after we met.  We have been married for almost 18 years now and we have 2 amazing daughters.  I loved being the manager at Pet House and I love living in Santa Barbara.  It’s such an amazing community!  During COVID, the previous owner of Pet House decided to retire, and she offered to help me purchase the store.  I am very grateful for her help and guidance.”

For Andrea, the obsession with animals didn’t start in college. “I grew up with a lot of animals.  My most unusual childhood pet was a 12ft Burmese python named “Fat Boy”.  My dad is an avid outdoorsman and hunter so we always had snakes and lizards that we would catch and keep for short periods before we would release them back in the wild…

I have always loved frogs and geckos and I got really into live terrariums after college.  I love setting up a whole ecosystem. I also love live plants but for some reason I can’t keep them alive unless they are in a tank with a reptile.  I even got an orchid to bloom multiple times in one of my terrariums.  Once I had kids I had to take down my frog room to make room for babies but I hope to start it up again one day.”

Pet House is the perfect outlet for Andrea’s pet passion and she still loves Solomon Island leaf frogs, Vietnamese mossy frogs, leaf-tailed geckos, and more. In addition to reptiles and amphibians, the store is known for its birds (hand-fed conures & cockatiels, along with finches, canaries, and parakeets), freshwater fish, and their small mammals (fancy rats, mice, and hamsters, which are all bred in-house).

“The animal that we are most known for is our fancy rats.  Our rats come from a long line of breeding.  For over 20 years we got our fancy rats and hamsters from a remarkable woman named Bonnie Walters.  When she passed away we took over her breeding population and continued her amazing work at Pet House.”

One of the more entertaining animals kept in the store are the baby cockatiels. “If you have never heard a hungry baby cockatiel you should google it.  It sounds like we are torturing animal in our back room.  We often joke that they are baby pterodactyls.  Since they have to be fed 2-3 times a day for weeks I usually end up taking them home with me. Even though they can be a little difficult to raise I think our hand fed birds are so sweet because we spend so much time with them.”

Andrea, along with her store manager Stephani and aquatics manager Kiel have all noticed an increase in natural/bioactive habitats. They’ve seen a big push for isopods and springtails in the store, and for a variety of aquatic plants/nano aquariums.

Pet House frequently does community outreach, and the local elementary school kids do an annual field trip to the store to meet the animals. Other local kids are invited to participate in their weekly scavenger hunt around the store where they answer questions about animals to win a prize.

This Summer they started a program called “Summer Fun Days” where kids and adults alike can meet the reptiles and rats that are breeders at the store, and can sign up to hold and feed them.

They frequently have ice cream socials where dogs can get a free pup cup whipped cream cups, and frozen treats like Ben & Jerry’s and frozen marrow bones are discounted. Their expansive food selection doesn’t stop there, as they offer feeder insects and live brine shrimp and blackworms for aquatics.

Pet House is an incredible store with passionate people and amazing animals, so make sure to show them some love this month!