Brian Barcyzk - My opinion

[Pauls_Pythons]

Enclosures and racks are the same price and efficiency? Are you even trying to kid me or just trolling yourself? How far from reality can you get and still type it out in a post?

I really dont know why I waste my time.
All depends on individuals set up Sdaji and as you have no idea as to my set up how can you even begin to contradict?
My racks are not home made and cost twice the price of building my enclosures to house a similar number of animals.

Oh, and by the way, I didnt state cost and efficiency. My statement was "I dont see any difference in the cost of keeping in enclosures or racks and I have several of each to compare".

 

[ColourBombReptiles]

I think Brian is just very misunderstood at times. Snakes can have weird issues from birth defect, neurological issue, or even just look weird! Spider balls will continue no matter what. I do however get a bit iffy about the 2 sunrise theory, and the fact that Lucy’s sore was from escaping as later in the video she was fine, but daisy for example, she has always had an overbite, and the saliva came with it, and it looked bad because it sticks to the substrate which she didn’t used to have.

Brian is just an ordanairy guy, sure he has tonnes of money, but that comes from a lifetime of hard work, sure he has the best job on earth, but he isn’t Brian the god or superhero, just Brian.

 

[nick_75]

I have been watching some of his videos on youtube to get a better understanding of him and his care. I've been aware of him for a long time but I've never bothered watching his videos in the past as his idea of the hobby is not mine.

After watching as much of the over dramatised crap that I could handle, I agree with some of the statements made by some of his detractors. The facility looks like a breeding farm, he could be banging out kittens, puppies or reptiles there. I think he is primarily focused on the income rather than anything else. This is the type of breeder I avoid.

I especially enjoined his video defending the Spider morph Ball pythons. I think he has taken some cues from the NRA's scare tactics. DON'T TAKE ME GUNS/SNAKES!!!!!!!!!! Typical of him to be defending his income.
I support the restriction that IHS has imposed, hopefully the restriction will be placed in other parts of the world. Should that restriction be placed on other morphs that are known to have health issues?

As to the questions placed about mental stimulation and UV provided to captive reptiles. They get both in the wild, why not provide both in captivity? I'll head off anyone here that may respond with sarcasm, with statements like 'why not provide ticks etc, they have them in the wild'. UV and mental stimulation are positives and beneficial to healthy life. Are they an absolute must? Maybe not, but I provide them anyway.

 

[dragonlover1]

I have been watching this thread and I wont enter the argument on a broad scale., but personally I don't like rack systems except for hatchlings. I prefer some sort of stimulation for my reptiles and yes I provide UV. I know that goes against lots of peoples opinions but they get it in the wild so why not in captivity.For clarity I keep several species of dragon,a few Antaresia and a pair of Varanus varius

 

[Sdaji]

I really dont know why I waste my time.

+1

All depends on individuals set up Sdaji and as you have no idea as to my set up how can you even begin to contradict?

Because regardless of any design you can imagine, it's simply not possible to make an enclosure as cheaply as a rack, or one as fast and time efficient to use as a rack, or one as space efficient as a rack.

My racks are not home made and cost twice the price of building my enclosures to house a similar number of animals.

Congratulations on spending extra money? Um... good job! ...?
[doublepost=1554899995,1554899389][/doublepost]

I have been watching some of his videos on youtube to get a better understanding of him and his care. I've been aware of him for a long time but I've never bothered watching his videos in the past as his idea of the hobby is not mine.

After watching as much of the over dramatised crap that I could handle, I agree with some of the statements made by some of his detractors. The facility looks like a breeding farm, he could be banging out kittens, puppies or reptiles there. I think he is primarily focused on the income rather than anything else. This is the type of breeder I avoid.

I don't think it's any secret his primary goal is breeding for profit, is there? It's literally a farm. Was there some sort of misunderstanding?

I especially enjoined his video defending the Spider morph Ball pythons. I think he has taken some cues from the NRA's scare tactics. DON'T TAKE ME GUNS/SNAKES!!!!!!!!!! Typical of him to be defending his income.
I support the restriction that IHS has imposed, hopefully the restriction will be placed in other parts of the world. Should that restriction be placed on other morphs that are known to have health issues?

I've defended him here, but I partially have to agree. I actually do agree that there is a slippery slope and if you allow them to take the spiders it sets a dangerous precedent for the hobby, and it's concerning you can't see that, but he definitely went a bit disingenuous when defending spiders, and took the whole thing too far, which partially validates your comments.

As to the questions placed about mental stimulation and UV provided to captive reptiles. They get both in the wild, why not provide both in captivity? I'll head off anyone here that may respond with sarcasm, with statements like 'why not provide ticks etc, they have them in the wild'. UV and mental stimulation are positives and beneficial to healthy life. Are they an absolute must? Maybe not, but I provide them anyway.

Too right! They get predators and parasites in the wild, why not give them? They get starvation, live prey which fights back and leaves scars, etc. Nature kills the vast majority of snakes in their first few months - in captivity we can do better! This clearly shows that something existing naturally doesn't mean it's good, so you've shot down your own argument. UV doesn't give them benefits and can do them harm in various ways (over the years I've come across a fair number of cases of pythons being freaked out by UV lights making them stressed and refuse to feed, and normal behaviour resumed when the UV was removed, and UV does have negative effects even on species that benefit from it, so if something doesn't benefit from it, it makes sense not to give it to them). Mental stimulation doesn't give them better health, longevity, reproductive success, etc. It does probably develop their brain to some extent and if that makes you happy that's great and I don't think anyone is trying to stop you from doing it. Likewise, there's no reason to attack someone else who doesn't give them something unnecessary.
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I have been watching this thread and I wont enter the argument on a broad scale., but personally I don't like rack systems except for hatchlings.

I don't think anyone is going to tell you off for not using racks, and likewise, you shouldn't make an attack on someone else even if it's a passive aggressive attack.

I prefer some sort of stimulation for my reptiles and yes I provide UV. I know that goes against lots of peoples opinions but they get it in the wild so why not in captivity.

Because it's expensive, potentially harmful, and unnecessary (some arguable exceptions, but certainly this is true for pythons, Varanids, etc). 'They get it in the wild' is not a valid reason to give them anything. Replicating wild conditions means the vast majority of your animals will die in a short amount of time. On average, of all snakes born/hatched in the wild, only two per female will grow up and manage to reproduce. The rest, all of them, die, most in their first few months. Clearly we don't actually want to replicate nature, because nature is a really, really harsh, horrible set of conditions which literally kills most individuals.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Because regardless of any design you can imagine, it's simply not possible to make an enclosure as cheaply as a rack, or one as fast and time efficient to use as a rack, or one as space efficient as a rack.

And again missed the point completely as there was no mention of building, time efficient or space efficient.
I have a very mixed set up including vision racks which while expensive are very easy and quick to put together. My hatchie racks are home made, cheap and simple but cant compare running costs as they run 24/7.

Congratulations on spending extra money? Um... good job! ...?

Please remind me what gives you the right to criticise what others spend their money on.

Im done.

 

[Sdaji]

Please remind me what gives you the right to criticise what others spend their money on.

I wasn't criticising anyone on what they spend their money on, but we all have the right to do so because we have freedom of speech at least to that extent. Not that I'd have brought up the topic of our right to criticise, but you asked the question, strange as it was, that's your prerogative, so there's your answer

I was facetiously congratulating you, which while clearly not really a heartfelt congratulation, wasn't criticism either. It was just bemusement at why you'd bother talking about how your racks were so expensive. Not that I care, not that I have a problem with it, I just... don't see the point or relevance in that context in bringing up that your racks were more expensive than alternatives. But again, you obviously seem to love them, so congratulations (genuinely minus the facetiousness this time).

 

[LilithLeChat]

I’ll just leave this video in here. As an insomniac who spends a lot of time in the snake room in the middle of the night watching my snakes, I could not in good conscience keep them in tubs.

 

[Herpetology]

I don’t think any arboreal species such as diamonds should be kept in tubs.

Apart from arboreal species, I don’t have a problem as long as food and water is offered, and they’re free from harm and danger

 

[nick_75]

I've defended him here, but I partially have to agree. I actually do agree that there is a slippery slope and if you allow them to take the spiders it sets a dangerous precedent for the hobby, and it's concerning you can't see that, but he definitely went a bit disingenuous when defending spiders, and took the whole thing too far, which partially validates your comments.

Have no concern, I see the potential of what could develop. I have been at the loosing end of a similar situation in the past. I am a country boy and grew up hunting and fishing. We supplemented our diet with wild duck, pheasant, pigeon, goose, quail, rabbit, venison and various fresh water fish. A few of my favorite fire arms were semi-auto, which after the incident in Tasmania we had to hand in to be destroyed. The guns were purchased legally, registered, stored safely and always used responsibly but because of the negative actions of one person, we lost them. Even though I had never done anything irresponsible with a firearm I understood that this was for the greater good. It is the same situation with any morph/breed in the pet trade with known health issues.

Buyers are more focused on having the eye candy rather than being fully aware of the risks to the well being of the animal and breeders take advantage of this. Does the breeder explain the potential health risks that the animal has? If mentioned, the severity is played down as Brian did. Don't risk the income.

Too right! They get predators and parasites in the wild, why not give them? They get starvation, live prey which fights back and leaves scars, etc. Nature kills the vast majority of snakes in their first few months - in captivity we can do better! This clearly shows that something existing naturally doesn't mean it's good, so you've shot down your own argument.

I thought that I had headed off the sarcasm with my earlier quote........... I don't think I need to restate my stance here.

UV doesn't give them benefits and can do them harm in various ways (over the years I've come across a fair number of cases of pythons being freaked out by UV lights making them stressed and refuse to feed, and normal behaviour resumed when the UV was removed, and UV does have negative effects even on species that benefit from it, so if something doesn't benefit from it, it makes sense not to give it to them).

What are the negative effects of UV? Do wild animals suffer these same effects?
Of course an animal had never been exposed to a UV light would be stressed and potentially go off it's food for a while after being blasted with a bright light. I'm sure if the UV was left in place, normal behavior would resume after the period of adjustment. My snakes are used to the UV lights. The lights have been in place since the snakes were very young. The lights turn on for an hour during the day, which does not alter the day/night cycle.

Mental stimulation doesn't give them better health, longevity, reproductive success, etc.

Is not having mental stimulation detrimental to life? In reference to a reptile, probably not. Is there a possibility that mental stimulation in captivity has positive effect? I believe so.

Likewise, there's no reason to attack someone else who doesn't give them something unnecessary.

There was no attack involved. I though we were debating. If you consider this an attack, I applaud your innocence of not knowing what a real attack entails.

 

[Nero Egernia]

I personally don't agree with Brian's keeping methods. I like his proclivity to manhandle his reptiles in an attempt to gain more views on YouTube even less. But it's his hobby, his animals. What he does is his business, not mine. I find this to be a growing trend among reptile keepers. They like to criticize others. Perhaps it makes them feel superior. Or perhaps they genuinely dislike their target. Whatever the reason, I personally believe this reptile keeper elitism is an ugly stain on the current hobby and appears to be growing still. I admit I have indulged in it myself on a few occasions. I try my best not to do it anymore because it really serves no purpose other than spreading negativity. Life's too short to worry about what others are doing.

The other day I took all my large carpet pythons outside to have a stretch, drink from the pond, and to doze in the sun while I was watering the garden. Was it necessary for their health and longevity? I don't know. All I know is that they "appeared" to enjoy their outing and it brought me pleasure. To me, there's more to reptile keeping than farming snakes and lizards for the next new and exciting morph at the bare minimum cost in stark easily sanitized enclosures. But that's my hobby. Am I going to impose my beliefs and my own ways of doing things on others? No. I really don't see the point. As far as I'm concerned people are free to do as they please, as long as it's not harming someone else.

 

[LilithLeChat]

@Nero Egernia, agree 100%. I like watching my snakes’ behaviour, I like watching them interact with their environment, I like handling them. I’m trying to figure out their likes and dislikes and act accordingly. They’re alert and inquisitive and I believe they have a good quality of life.

 

[Sdaji]

Have no concern, I see the potential of what could develop. I have been at the loosing end of a similar situation in the past. I am a country boy and grew up hunting and fishing. We supplemented our diet with wild duck, pheasant, pigeon, goose, quail, rabbit, venison and various fresh water fish. A few of my favorite fire arms were semi-auto, which after the incident in Tasmania we had to hand in to be destroyed. The guns were purchased legally, registered, stored safely and always used responsibly but because of the negative actions of one person, we lost them. Even though I had never done anything irresponsible with a firearm I understood that this was for the greater good. It is the same situation with any morph/breed in the pet trade with known health issues.

Buyers are more focused on having the eye candy rather than being fully aware of the risks to the well being of the animal and breeders take advantage of this. Does the breeder explain the potential health risks that the animal has? If mentioned, the severity is played down as Brian did. Don't risk the income.

I quite disagree here, but it's getting a bit off topic, so I'll leave it.

I thought that I had headed off the sarcasm with my earlier quote........... I don't think I need to restate my stance here.

But your reason was utterly invalid, you see?

What are the negative effects of UV? Do wild animals suffer these same effects?

I already described some of them. Stressing out, not feeding, skin/eye damage, etc. Yes, wild animals do sometimes suffer from some of them. Humans also suffer from UV - Natural UV-caused skin cancer is a major killer of people in Australia. This naturally occurred in humans too, although to a lesser extent. Again, you seem to be missing the big concept that natural does not equal good. Natural temperature cycles are not perfect for reptiles. Natural feeding regimes are not perfect. Nothing about nature is optimal. Nature provides a harsh environment living things must cope with. In captivity the problems with UV can be worse because there's a UV light right up close in an enclosed space (as a conceptual explanation, try going outside on a bright sunny day, it generally is comfortable enough, but get a bright light 30cm from your face and it doesn't feel the same even if the measured intensity is less than the sunlight outside. Now imagine being stuck in a small box with that light never being more than whatever distance from your face). Now consider that artificial UV is not the same as natural UV and can in some cases be more harmful.

Of course an animal had never been exposed to a UV light would be stressed and potentially go off it's food for a while after being blasted with a bright light. I'm sure if the UV was left in place, normal behavior would resume after the period of adjustment. My snakes are used to the UV lights. The lights have been in place since the snakes were very young. The lights turn on for an hour during the day, which does not alter the day/night cycle.

Mostly I've seen it with young snakes. It's not always a problem and not all problems are obvious enough for humans to be able to notice, but since no one has ever demonstrating pythons benefiting from UV, and it can be a problem, and it is an expense and effort etc, it makes sense not to use it. If you want to, hey, your animals, your choice, but it definitely makes no sense to complain about anyone else not using it.

Is not having mental stimulation detrimental to life? In reference to a reptile, probably not. Is there a possibility that mental stimulation in captivity has positive effect? I believe so.

Depends what you mean by 'a positive effect'. Again, no one is going to complain about you doing it your way.

There was no attack involved. I though we were debating. If you consider this an attack, I applaud your innocence of not knowing what a real attack entails.

See, right there, that was an attack. I'm not saying it hurt me, I'm not saying I care, I will say that it failed to do what you hoped, but it was an attack. A dweeby little passive aggressive attack, you made a cowardly and pathetic attempt to pretend it wasn't an attack, but it was an attack. I don't expect my counter attack to hurt you or anything, I don't think it's a big or strong or heartfelt attack, but it is an attack and I won't lie and say it wasn't.
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I find this to be a growing trend among reptile keepers. They like to criticize others. Perhaps it makes them feel superior.

This is it, it's virtue signaling. It's saying "Look at me, I found someone I can attack in order to feel better about myself and look better to you. If you wish you may join me and we can attack this person together, making him a common enemy allowing us to feel superior together"

This is a basic human trait which has always existed, but is becoming a more common trend across almost all demographics because of the social dynamics of the modern world.

 

[nick_75]

I quite disagree here, but it's getting a bit off topic, so I'll leave it.



But your reason was utterly invalid, you see?



I already described some of them. Stressing out, not feeding, skin/eye damage, etc. Yes, wild animals do sometimes suffer from some of them. Humans also suffer from UV - Natural UV-caused skin cancer is a major killer of people in Australia. This naturally occurred in humans too, although to a lesser extent. Again, you seem to be missing the big concept that natural does not equal good. Natural temperature cycles are not perfect for reptiles. Natural feeding regimes are not perfect. Nothing about nature is optimal. Nature provides a harsh environment living things must cope with. In captivity the problems with UV can be worse because there's a UV light right up close in an enclosed space (as a conceptual explanation, try going outside on a bright sunny day, it generally is comfortable enough, but get a bright light 30cm from your face and it doesn't feel the same even if the measured intensity is less than the sunlight outside. Now imagine being stuck in a small box with that light never being more than whatever distance from your face). Now consider that artificial UV is not the same as natural UV and can in some cases be more harmful.



Mostly I've seen it with young snakes. It's not always a problem and not all problems are obvious enough for humans to be able to notice, but since no one has ever demonstrating pythons benefiting from UV, and it can be a problem, and it is an expense and effort etc, it makes sense not to use it. If you want to, hey, your animals, your choice, but it definitely makes no sense to complain about anyone else not using it.



Depends what you mean by 'a positive effect'. Again, no one is going to complain about you doing it your way.



See, right there, that was an attack. I'm not saying it hurt me, I'm not saying I care, I will say that it failed to do what you hoped, but it was an attack. A dweeby little passive aggressive attack, you made a cowardly and pathetic attempt to pretend it wasn't an attack, but it was an attack. I don't expect my counter attack to hurt you or anything, I don't think it's a big or strong or heartfelt attack, but it is an attack and I won't lie and say it wasn't.
[doublepost=1554967399,1554967187][/doublepost]

This is it, it's virtue signaling. It's saying "Look at me, I found someone I can attack in order to feel better about myself and look better to you. If you wish you may join me and we can attack this person together, making him a common enemy allowing us to feel superior together"

This is a basic human trait which has always existed, but is becoming a more common trend across almost all demographics because of the social dynamics of the modern world.

This is going around in circles with no clear end in sight. You believe I am not understanding your point of view, I believe you are not understanding my point of view.

Yet I will state one more time. I am not complaining, I am adding to a discussion. I am not attacking you or anyone, I am adding to a discussion. I find your comment below pathetic and am growing weary of communicating with you and your defensive, overly sensitive and arrogant demeanour. I ask you to act like a clear headed, responsible adult and cease the petulant outbursts when ever someone disagrees with you and accuse them of attacking you. If you've ever been truly attacked physically or verbally you would understand the difference and realise that I am not attacking you. I have found communicating with you frustrating but I have never felt that I was under attack from you. We are having a discussion not squaring up against each other in a bar. I come and go on this site, spending periods where I really can't be bothered logging on. Namely because of over bearing, over opinionated people like you that ruin what could be interesting discussions.
If you don't like what someone is posting, or you think you are under attack, try this. Turn off your computer instead of screaming blue murder.
I will now be going into self imposed exile for a period of time as I have had enough of people like you. I will be back though, please improve your disposition.

See, right there, that was an attack. I'm not saying it hurt me, I'm not saying I care, I will say that it failed to do what you hoped, but it was an attack. A dweeby little passive aggressive attack, you made a cowardly and pathetic attempt to pretend it wasn't an attack, but it was an attack. I don't expect my counter attack to hurt you or anything, I don't think it's a big or strong or heartfelt attack, but it is an attack and I won't lie and say it wasn't.

 

[Sdaji]

This is going around in circles with no clear end in sight. You believe I am not understanding your point of view, I believe you are not understanding my point of view.

Yet I will state one more time. I am not complaining, I am adding to a discussion. I am not attacking you or anyone, I am adding to a discussion. I find your comment below pathetic and am growing weary of communicating with you and your defensive, overly sensitive and arrogant demeanour. I ask you to act like a clear headed, responsible adult and cease the petulant outbursts when ever someone disagrees with you and accuse them of attacking you. If you've ever been truly attacked physically or verbally you would understand the difference and realise that I am not attacking you. I have found communicating with you frustrating but I have never felt that I was under attack from you. We are having a discussion not squaring up against each other in a bar. I come and go on this site, spending periods where I really can't be bothered logging on. Namely because of over bearing, over opinionated people like you that ruin what could be interesting discussions.
If you don't like what someone is posting, or you think you are under attack, try this. Turn off your computer instead of screaming blue murder.
I will now be going into self imposed exile for a period of time as I have had enough of people like you. I will be back though, please improve your disposition.

Quite an ironic post, don't you think?

 

[dragonlover1]

It would seem ironic that you Sdaji choose a turnip as your avatar because you seem to be the most bitter and sour individual to grace the internet. It doesn't matter what anyone says or how they say it ,you find fault.I simply said I personally don't like tubs but you somehow turned that into a passive aggressive attack ??? and you did a similar thing to virtually every respondent to this thread. Originally you took umbrage with the OP(with some degree that had sympathy with readers) but then denigrated almost every other person who dared to reply.
I'm pretty sure you have no friends but then you probably don't want any as you are happy in the company of your multiple nasty personalities.
Goodbye and good luck .

 

[LilithLeChat]

OP has freely admitted that she’s both very young and very inexperienced as a snake keeper. She has found online two opposing camps, Brian’s and his critic’s. With no experience to accurately judge either side’s point of view, she has gone with her gut and decided she doesn’t like Brian’s methods, and expressed it here.
If she’s wrong about her opinions, this could have been a teachable moment where it could have been explained why she’s wrong. Instead she was attacked immediately. And for what? For not liking a YouTube celebrity who doesn’t know and couldn’t care less about a teenage Australian girl who doesn’t like his methods?

For the record, I’ve only seen a few of his videos, and nothing from his critics. His videos pop up on my YouTube feed because of whatever algorithm YouTube uses. I’m not interested because he’s a breeder in US dealing with snakes we can’t have in Australia, but I’ve watched a few vids because of clickbite-y thumbnails. I find that he manufactures drama and sensationalism for the views, rather than actually try and educate.
And yeah, I don’t like his methods either. But it’s no skin off my nose how he, or any other breeder, keeps his snakes. All I care about is that when I buy a snake, it is healthy, doesn’t have any hidden genetic or congenital problems, and that the breeder is approachable for any post-sale advice, tips and hints.
How they treat their breeding stock is on their conscience. And I’ll happily pay more if that means the breeder is investing money in better living condition for their snakes.