Brian Henry Barczyk (September 6, 1969 – January 14, 2024) was an American

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

enthusiast,

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, and founder of the Reptarium Reptile Zoo and Legasea Aquarium. He was also featured as a star on the TV series ''Venom Hunters'' by the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. Barczyk had the third-largest collection of

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s in the world, with over 30,000 snakes, and assisted with venom milking.

Early life and career

Brian Henry Barczyk was born on September 6, 1969. He grew fascinated with animals from a trip to the zoo at the age of two. Thereafter, Barczyk continued practicing his love for animals, specifically reptiles. He appeared on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

beginning in 2011, and starred on channels such as SnakeBytesTV. He collaborated with other YouTubers such as

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, and

David Dobrik Dávid Julián Dobrík (; ; born July 23, 1996) is an Internet personality, YouTuber, streamer and vlogger. He amassed a million followers on the video-sharing platform Vine before starting his vlog on YouTube in 2015. Dobrik is the leader o ...

Personal life

In 1992, Barczyk married Lori Ann Herman; they had two children, Noah and Jade. All have an active interest in reptiles.

Illness and death

In 2023, Barczyk was diagnosed with inoperable

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, which he revealed on his

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

. On January 5, 2024, he publicly stated that he would be entering

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

care. He died nine days later at his home in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, at the age of 54.

References

1969 births 2024 deaths American zookeepers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Michigan Place of birth missing YouTubers from Michigan {{YouTuber-bio-stub