Brian Barczyk In Hospice

[MasonC2K]

It's been a while since I have posted here. But hearing the news of Brian losing his battle to cancer motivated me to swing by and check in. He posted a goodbye video on his YT channel. It's a sad time for not just his family and friends but the reptile community as a whole.

[Bogertophis]

Dang, that's sad- he's only 54 years old, & obviously leaving behind his wife & family, besides all his ambitions. Cancer really sucks.

[Armiyana]

Crap .... I had the feeling this was happening after his blood clot over and surgery the holiday.

Can't watch the video at the moment... so I don't know what he thinks his time is. He's honestly done amazing give the type and size of his tumor at diagnosis...I really hope he can make it long enough to see the LegaSea with some of the animals on site.

[dakski]

I am saddened by this news.

I am not sure if I have written about it here, but Brian got me back into reptiles hard core after my kidney transplant. I had a couple of corn snakes and a Beardie before my surgery, but was told I couldn't care for them because of a (purposefully) reduced immune system. I re-homed the corns and my ex-wife said she would care for George, my Bearded Dragon.

Well, she did not and I had to. I realized then, and after research, and speaking with Brian (more on that in a second) that taking reasonable safety precautions when cleaning was enough. 11 years and a reptile collection later, and I have yet to get sick from them.

I met Brian at the White Plains, NY reptile expo back when his YouTube channel was just starting up. He was still mostly a breeder and was going to shows and selling the animals he bred. I spoke to him about loving his passion and that I wished I could still keep reptiles. He told me to do my research and that he had a friend in Australia, who bred Carpet Pythons, and had a kidney transplant as well. He said he was careful and had over 300 snakes and had yet to get sick from them. This encouraged me to research more about it. The bottom line is people fear what they do not understand and doctors are more interested in being safe than sorry. That is fine, but they spoke about reptiles more out of fear and ignorance than fact.

Figment, my corn hypo lavender corn, and Frank, my Blue Tongue Skink, both came from BHB Reptiles. I remember Brain spending several phone calls and time discussing Figment's purchase. He spent almost an hour (in aggregate) with me discussing pros and cons of corns vs. milk snakes (the other snake species I was interested in at the time). I settled on Figment and he has been awesome and is handsome animal. Brian's wife, Lori, spent similar time speaking with me about Frank's purchase. Both arrived happy and healthy and are still doing great. Figment is 11 this year and Frank will be 9.

Brian's passion is contagious and evident.

Last night I got a text from a friend about Brian and Katie opened his YouTube channel. I was suddenly hit with the reality of this situation and for Brian and his family. I also lost a friend 3 years ago to the same cancer and at basically the same age.

Brian has been an inspiration both with reptiles and how he has handled his health issues.

[Homebody]

It's been a while since I have posted here. But hearing the news of Brian losing his battle to cancer motivated me to swing by and check in. He posted a goodbye video on his YT channel. It's a sad time for not just his family and friends but the reptile community as a whole.

When I first got into keeping reptiles, I watched Brian's videos regularly and I learned a lot from him. Watching him say goodbye was tough. He will be missed.

[Bogertophis]

What Brian Barczyk Means To Us...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CxomBOFDvM

(Some thoughts from the staff...)

[bcr229]

This was posted earlier today.

https://thereptarium.com/pages/brianbarczyk

[Bogertophis]

At least he's at peace now, & not suffering any longer.

[lX V1P3R Xl]

I'll miss all those energetic videos. He was always so excited about everything! Maybe he's now managing the big Guy's reptile zoo up there.

[Zincubus]

So very sad .. he was only a youngster compared to me as well .

I should appreciate my good health more


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