Brian Barczyk

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by franks

(Continued because of my wierd phone)

I feel that it is rediculous that we hold breeders to a different standard than hobbiests. If an animal is an animal and a life is a life than what is deemed appropriate or in other words "the lowest standard of acceptable husbandry" should be consistently the same. If a person came on this forum and had one carpet python that he kept in a small plastic tub I would speak up and say that is not acceptable husbandry. Many of you would chime in and agree. I don't care that he has a thousand snakes, I do not like to see animals that I like have to live in conditions like that.

Agreed. I see the excuse that "breeders with thousands of animals can't afford to keep them in anything but small tubs" all the time. That's an argument for keeping fewer animals, not keeping them in cages that are barely big enough.

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Agreed. I see the excuse that "breeders with thousands of animals can't afford to keep them in anything but small tubs" all the time. That's an argument for keeping fewer animals, not keeping them in cages that are barely big enough.

Exactly, husbandry over profit. These are live animals, not objects.

Breed fewer animals to provide adequate housing, instead of breeding many animals in cramped housing.

They can't afford to keep 100 snakes in anything but small tubs? Too bad, don't keep 100 snakes then.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by infernalis

That poor Nile can't hardly move at all in there.

I hadn't seen that before now. Can't say that I approve of it.

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

I hadn't seen that before now. Can't say that I approve of it.

I second that.

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

OK that's a bit too little space, if that were a child or a domestic animal he'd be in jail. No offence, I don't know the guy and the few episodes of snake bites I've watched were cool but I'm just stating a fact. That would be considered abuse in a child or domestic animal cruelty case.

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by nazanova

You are one lucky guy! (As weird as that may sound lol) Who won between you and josh

Josh did, three matches (up to 5 rounds per match) in a row was too much for me. He was fresher and I was exhausted. Those suits are HOT!

[Aaron_S]

Brian is very talkative with the community. If anyone has concerns they should attempt to contact him and ask him these questions.

I know he has posted on his blog some time ago about the large constrictors. He mentioned that he gave them larger enclosures at one point in time. They went off food and didn't do as well in them so he switched back to these sizes and the large snakes do better for him in them.

Bob Clark, who has a degree in zoology and a masters in Herpetology, also agrees that these larger animals generally prefer a cozier environment.

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Brian is very talkative with the community. If anyone has concerns they should attempt to contact him and ask him these questions.

I know he has posted on his blog some time ago about the large constrictors. He mentioned that he gave them larger enclosures at one point in time. They went off food and didn't do as well in them so he switched back to these sizes and the large snakes do better for him in them.

Bob Clark, who has a degree in zoology and a masters in Herpetology, also agrees that these larger animals generally prefer a cozier environment.

Interesting that you mention this, I hadn't heard Bob's take on this. We just had a retic go off feed when we moved her into a larger enclosure (not much, from a 41qt to a Vision 221. We switched her back and she's eating like a champ again. Very frustrating because she looks so cramped in the 41qt tub but it is clearly what she preferred. Had her in the 221 for 2 months and we offered her a wide variety of food items and nothing worked.

Re: Monitor husbandry. He has larger enclosures for them but moves them into the smaller cages for filming. As I'm sure you are aware, filming monitors in their proper enclosures can be difficult.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by millertime89

Interesting that you mention this, I hadn't heard Bob's take on this. We just had a retic go off feed when we moved her into a larger enclosure (not much, from a 41qt to a Vision 221. We switched her back and she's eating like a champ again. Very frustrating because she looks so cramped in the 41qt tub but it is clearly what she preferred. Had her in the 221 for 2 months and we offered her a wide variety of food items and nothing worked.

Re: Monitor husbandry. He has larger enclosures for them but moves them into the smaller cages for filming. As I'm sure you are aware, filming monitors in their proper enclosures can be difficult.

If you check articles written by Bob he mentions it. I believe I caught that tidbit in 'Not your father's retic" in a recent REPTILES magazine. He posts them on his site if anyone is interested in the read. He says big is fine but his experience says they prefer the tighter environment.

I have noted in my ball pythons that some adjust to the upgraded bin size quite well while others do not. I see your point Kyle in the cramped look but to them it's perfect.

I didn't and won't comment on the monitor enclosures as I have no knowledge of his set ups. I have never bothered to ask him but I should be seeing him come Sept so maybe I'll ask.

[millertime89]

I'll have to go check it out on his site. Been a while since I ventured over there. I asked Brian about the enclosures when I first met him at the MidWest Herp Convention (where that picture was taken) and from what I remember him telling me (it was nearly two years ago now) he had them in size-appropriate setups. I don't think I've watched a snakebytes video in probably 18 months so things might have changed and I just haven't cared enough to ask him when I last saw him a few months back.

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

Knowing that's not what they live in makes me feel a lot better

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by millertime89

Re: Monitor husbandry. He has larger enclosures for them but moves them into the smaller cages for filming. As I'm sure you are aware, filming monitors in their proper enclosures can be difficult.

We've all heard that excuse for those monitor tubs, and so far as I know it has never been substantiated. He has never shown any of his monitor's actual cages except for one of the "night" Nile monitor's, which was hardly better than this. Proportionally it was the same size with more height, and was not a cage suitable for keeping monitors in, even if it was big enough. I'm sorry, but I'm calling bull on the claim that these are feeding enclosures. Who adds substrate and a water bowl to a feeding cage? Not only that, but why bother using the feeding cage in the first place? Why not feed the monitor out on the floor if there was, for some reason, a problem with filming them in their enclosures? And no, there really isn't a whole lot of difficulty filming monitors in their proper enclosures, especially not around feeding time when most adult monitors will walk straight up to you and come out of the cage if you prompt them. People do it fairly often. If anything, it would be harder to catch the monitor out of its cage, carry it to a feeding tub and get it inside than it would to do almost anything else. It just doesn't add up. On top of that, niles are harder to get overweight than other monitors, even with improper temperatures. The only way I can imagine a nile would be that fat is if it were confined to a very small space and unable to move much. The bottom line is that everything about that situation and the monitor's condition points to that being its permanent cage. The only thing saying it isn't is their word that they have bigger cages. Monitor keepers have discussed these videos time and time again on well known forums that I'm positive people from BHB look at. Yet no one there seems willing to join the conversation, not even to run out to the warehouse and take a phone picture of a monitor cage. You would think, if people were falsely accusing them of bad monitor husbandry, they would be inclined to protect their reputation and give some evidence to the contrary...

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

We've all heard that excuse for those monitor tubs, and so far as I know it has never been substantiated. He has never shown any of his monitor's actual cages except for one of the "night" Nile monitor's, which was hardly better than this. Proportionally it was the same size with more height, and was not a cage suitable for keeping monitors in, even if it was big enough. I'm sorry, but I'm calling bull on the claim that these are feeding enclosures. Who adds substrate and a water bowl to a feeding cage? Not only that, but why bother using the feeding cage in the first place? Why not feed the monitor out on the floor if there was, for some reason, a problem with filming them in their enclosures? And no, there really isn't a whole lot of difficulty filming monitors in their proper enclosures, especially not around feeding time when most adult monitors will walk straight up to you and come out of the cage if you prompt them. People do it fairly often. If anything, it would be harder to catch the monitor out of its cage, carry it to a feeding tub and get it inside than it would to do almost anything else. It just doesn't add up. On top of that, niles are harder to get overweight than other monitors, even with improper temperatures. The only way I can imagine a nile would be that fat is if it were confined to a very small space and unable to move much. The bottom line is that everything about that situation and the monitor's condition points to that being its permanent cage. The only thing saying it isn't is their word that they have bigger cages. Monitor keepers have discussed these videos time and time again on well known forums that I'm positive people from BHB look at. Yet no one there seems willing to join the conversation, not even to run out to the warehouse and take a phone picture of a monitor cage. You would think, if people were falsely accusing them of bad monitor husbandry, they would be inclined to protect their reputation and give some evidence to the contrary...

As a reply to your line(s) about them protecting their reputation I guess because their known more for their snake work then monitor they don't really care as much? Thus not having to defend themselves against accusations. From seeing those pictures of the Nile monitor video I 100% agree with what you are saying, I do generally think he takes more care of his snakes then the monitors maybe because he has more passion for them

[Aaron_S]

Here is what Brian wrote on his facebook. Take it for what you will...

"Every now and then I have to make one of these posts.. I don't like too, but I feel I have too. Why is it that our "hobby" loves to attack our own. I have never seen ANY other hobby or business be so horribly back stabbing and childish.
Yesterday I was attacked on a monitor forum for a video I put out 7 years ago where I showed a monitor that was in a feeding cage, not it's actual cage, but a feeding cage. It was not his permanent home, but one we would move him to in order to feed him. I gave that animal away 6 years ago and yet I received about 100 messages about how I need to keep that monitor differently and how terrible of a person I am. Really? So I have to go back and defend myself for a video I did 7 years ago? Not to mention everyone posted like this video happened last week... Also, there was recently a very positive post on a forum about me and sure enough after a ton of super flattering things, the negative nillies came out and attacked the heck out of me.
Now do I really care about this stupidity? Not at all, but the reason I bring this up is for you guys to understand how YOU are the problem. Rather than helping change peoples minds or fight our fight supporting USARK or sacrificing to make our hobby better, you chose to attack me. Me of all people? And in the process you make people not want to have anything to do with our hobby because you all look like arguing morons. Now I am FAR from perfect, but I think most people would agree that I make more of a impact on the hobby than almost anyone. I spend an enormous amount of money and time promoting this hobby in ways that never makes me one penny. I do it because I want people to love these animals as much as I do. I also never think I deserve a pass, but I do think that I should at least get the respect I deserve for all that I do for this hobby.
There are plenty of people and things I see in the hobby that I don't like, but I realize that publicly attacking someone only makes all of us look terrible. Then you wonder why some of the big breeders don't want to help and don't want to participate in our community. Do you blame them??? Look at the way you treat us... I go to bat for every person in the hobby on a daily basis, and I don't post and brag about the battles I fight. I do them because I love this hobby.
There's nothing I enjoy more than turning a snake hater into a snake lover, but sometimes you guys make my job a lot harder than it should be. In honesty I am starting to really dislike the "hobby" and what it's turning into. I love the animals more than I can even explain, but you guys need to grow up and get off your fricken high horses and make a difference. And I'm not talking sitting behind your keyboard and accusing others of not caring for their animals. Do something positive and stop acting like you're in 5th grade.
Let's hope I don't have to rant again about this. But honestly, if we continue down this road none of us will have a hobby to worry about. So please grow up and if you have a problem with me, then talk to me directly like a grown up and don't post on some random forum like a linch mob...... We all have a common enemy and I can assure you it's nobody in this hobby. It's the people that are trying to stop us all from keeping these animals. I know how fun it is to gang up on a "big name" in the hobby. But lets try to put our energy into attacking the real enemy. Feel free to give this post a "share"... Thanks, Brian..."

[EL Ziggy]

I like Brian. He seems to really care about the animals he produces and is very passionate about the hobby. I also like the snake bytes videos.