- You have a dream.
Nobody believes in you.
You feel all alone.
Not supported.
You wanna follow your dreams.
Your family thinks your nuts.
What should I do?
Somethin' I don't talk about too much
to be totally honest with it,
but you guys know that my entire life
all I've really wanted to do
was surround myself with animals.
That was my only dream in life.
There was never anything else,
there wasn't another career option,
I just knew I wanted to spend my life with reptiles.
And I'm not gonna lie to you, it is tough
when the people around you think you're crazy, right?
When the people that you want to support you
think that you're doing the wrong thing,
and they think it's a phase
that you're gonna eventually grow out of.
And obviously, I knew it wasn't gonna be a phase
that I grew out of because I was so obsessed with them
and 25 years of my life was really spent breeding snakes.
You know, I started breeding in my moms basement,
which she never even wanted to go look at my animals,
ultimately I ended up moving to my own house,
having a house full of snakes, getting my first building,
continuing to grow, and the thing that really was a bummer
is that my family, my mom in particular,
never came to visit any of my places.
As much as I believed in myself
and I wanted to pave that way
and make sure that I could just surround myself
with animals, of course it was a bummer
that my family wasn't there to see what I was accomplishing.
Now don't get me wrong, I can imagine as a parent
to think that your kid wants to breed snakes for a living
is kind of a hard thing to kinda swallow,
but I wanted to prove that I could do it.
Not only to make them proud, but also to fulfill my dream
of working with animals for a living.
And there's really two points to this vlog.
Number one, I'm sure some of you out there
are trying to fulfill your dreams,
whether it's working with animals or whatever you wanna do,
and people aren't supporting you.
I'm here to tell you that even without the support,
you can still fulfill those dreams, you can do those things.
Yeah, it's nice to have that support,
but don't give up on yourself just because
the people around you are trying to make you
not follow your dreams.
Always go for it.
Look at, 30 years later, I'm still doing it,
and I'm in the best phase of my entire life
when it comes to workin' with animals.
The second part of this vlog is that my mom
is actually coming today for the very first time.
My sister's in from Hawaii and she's bringing her here,
she's never seen any of my places, and today she's coming.
I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm nervous, I'm excited,
but I want her to look and be proud of what her son did.
But before they come I do have
a bunch of snake work I've gotta get done.
After all, my entire day isn't gonna be dedicated to that
so, I'm gonna jump into it with a really cool clutch
of ball pythons that just hatched.
This clutch was actually a fire yellowbelly
bred to a dragonfly.
The dragonfly is a pastel, it's a fire,
and it is a pinstripe, and I tell ya what,
there are some really good results in there.
This one is a fire pinstripe
which is probably also a yellowbelly,
really absolutely, I mean just look at
the dorsal striping, absolutely incredible.
And then there's just some pinstripes in here.
Don't think this is a fire pinstripe,
I think this is just a normal pinstripe here.
We have, let's see, I'm just looking through,
there's just so much cool stuff in here it's crazy.
This is just basically a normal fire ball python right here,
so no other additional genes.
This is just a pastel ball python here,
which the pastel is on the dragonfly side.
We have another really beautiful for sure,
fire pinstripe yellowbelly, and you could really see
that yellowbelly influence by breaking that pattern up.
The other one was super striped,
this one is super kinda jigsawey, really a beautiful snake.
Then we have a few unbelievable animals here.
These are actually dragonfly yellowbellys.
So this is basically the all gene animal, right?
This is a pastel, it's a fire, it's a pinstripe,
and it's a yellowbelly and we had three of 'em!
How awesome is that?
I tell ya what, these things are gorgeous.
And then finally, I love this little monkey right here.
This is actually a little super fire ball python
because again, the fire was on the dragonfly side
and the fire yellowbelly side,
and this is the black eyed leucistic.
We always show you guys the blue eyed leucistics,
the black eyed Lucy's are the ones that have
that dark ruby eye, and some of 'em have
yellow blotching on 'em.
This particular one is solid white and absolutely gorgeous.
Not gonna lie, I'm feelin' a little bit sick
with anticipation, so I wanna keep my mind off things
for a little bit, and I've got a perfect way to do it.
We've been wantin' to get Jeffery, the Hypo Granite Burmese,
over to The Reptarium 'cause it's just such
a beautiful animal and super tame, it's got the same kind of
disposition as Sunrise had at this size,
so we finally freed up a cage when we moved Diddy and Dixie
into their new enclosure, there is a cage
that we cleaned out, disinfected, just perfect for Jeffery.
Now granted, he's gonna get big quick,
so he's only gonna be in there for a little bit of time,
but it'll be great to get him over to The Reptarium,
so what do you say we go put Jeffery in his new digs.
(upbeat music)
All right, so here it is, Jeffrey's new digs.
Let's hope he likes it.
Again, he'll grow out of it pretty quick
but I think it's gonna be awesome
'cause kids are gonna love him.
Look at how gorgeous he is, and he's gonna get
an opportunity to kinda climb around
and there's a little hiding spot over in the corner here,
there's some heat spots, he can get close
to the basking light over here,
I think he's gonna absolutely love this
and he looks so gorgeous, I mean that's what he should be in
is a cage like this so that he can really enjoy his beauty,
I tell ya what, what an amazing animal.
And when he gets larger we'll just find a new habitat
for him and keep on movin' him up.
This guy's gonna be a hit over here at The Reptarium.
Gonna continue to remind you guys,
two days from now on Sunday, we are doing
our one year anniversary here,
12 o'clock til eight o'clock we will be open.
We're gonna have stuff out front,
I told you guys this is gonna be absolutely,
I'm really excited about this.
And then you can, of course, come into The Reptarium, too,
12 to eight, definitely come join us.
If you're ever thinkin' about comin' to The Reptarium
this Sunday is the time to come.
- Oh!
- [Brian] My mom is coming for the very first time today.
Never been-- - That's awesome!
- [Brian] I know, so, what does your family
think of you working with animals?
- They weren't surprised.
- Really? - Oh yeah,
I was always out catchin' snakes and toads
and tryin' to keep stuff and you know,
I had a green iguana when I was little,
so, they were like, "Oh, wow, dream come true for ya!"
I'm like, "Yeah, for sure." - So supportive of you.
- Very supportive,
super supportive. - Awe, that's awesome.
- So it's really nice. - That's the way it should be,
but you know, I'm just happy that my moms comin'
with my sister today even though
its taken 30 something years
to get her to come. - I can't wait
to meet Mrs. Barczyk!
That is awesome, man! - I know, it's gonna be crazy,
I know well, hopefully she won't roll away to bad
'cause she's in a wheelchair. - Yeah, oh okay.
What does she think, though?
What does she think of all this?
- [Brian] She's always thought I was gonna grow out of it.
- Yeah. - She always thought
it was a passing phase, you know.
- That's so funny!
And here you are now, 30 years later!
- Still here. - That's crazy, man!
That's pretty cool. - That's awesome dude, thanks.
All right guys I just seen they pulled up.
I'm nervous, I'm not gonna lie to ya.
Heart palpitation, my mom's right over here,
so as soon as they come in I'll go meet 'em
and we'll come in and see how things go.
This is my sister!
- Aloha! - This is Kim,
this is my brother-in-law, Courtney,
my niece, my brother, and of course my mom over here.
Come on in, guys.
So what do you think, mom?
- Wow.
- [Brian] This is my big snake Lucy over here.
- How are ya? - This snake is 20 foot long.
This is a reticulated python.
What do you think, mom?
- It's unbelievable.
- Yeah? - Yeah, I couldn't picture it.
- [Brian] You couldn't picture it?
It's crazy, right?
Did you see my big tortoise over here?
- I did. - This is Matilda,
she's comin' over to see.
Matilda's only 15 years old.
- Only 15? - Only 15.
This is Jay, he's my camera guy and editor
and emotional support animal.
This is Daisy over here.
What do you think, mom?
- [Mom] I'm amazed.
- [Brian] It's wild, huh?
- Yeah. - This is Bruce,
Bruce this is my mom.
- Hi! - Hi.
- It's a pleasure.
Nice to meet you, pleasure. - Same here.
- Guys,
oh...
It's pretty emotional to have my family here.
I'm so grateful they came and just to see my mom.
She was amazed which was amazing.
So I'm gonna try to pull myself together
and then I'm gonna show 'em some animals.
We're gonna have a good time, so.
But, it's pretty special day.
Okay, Brian breathe, and then let's go show some animals
and have a good time, all right?
(upbeat music)
So the first one is actually my guy Nova here.
Hey, Nova, and he's a daddy.
He just had babies just hatched out
a week and a half ago, so.
This is actually a frilled dragon.
You can pet him if you want.
See he has those big frills that he'll frill up.
Remember "Jurassic Park?"
- Yeah. - The dinosaur that frills,
this is just like it, that's called the Dilophosaurus.
So this is just like the Dilophosaurus.
- You got a lot of teeth.
(Brian laughs)
- Easier to eat you with. - He won't bite though,
will it? - Nah, this guy's so tame.
Nothing I take out has bit.
We've been here an entire year as a matter of fact
this weekend, it's our entire year anniversary,
and we've never had anyone get bit.
- Nobody ever got bit?
- Just me. - Nice.
So cute!
Hello, oh my goodness!
It's so funny she was just perched kind of like that.
- I always say that what happens is he comes up
and he sits at the front of the cage and he looks out,
and I always say he thinks we're on exhibit, you know,
like we're the animals, it's like we're here
for his entertainment.
- It seem like it. - Literally, when we're
open for the public, he literally just comes up
and he people watches all night long.
What's different about this snake?
- [Carly] Oh my gosh.
- Do you see?
- He's got two heads.
- Yes, it's got two heads, isn't that crazy?
- Yeah. - This is named Ben and Jerry.
- That's what the name?
One is Ben and one's Jerry? - Yep, this ones Ben
and this one's Jerry.
- What type of snake?
- This is a California King Snake.
- What's up, buddy?
(everyone laughing)
- Wow. - What do you think?
- Look at that rainbow!
- I can't believe you're touching these snakes!
It's crazy. - It's like,
"What is the wheel chair?"
- I'm so happy that you are.
Gonna lick on you like, "Hello!"
So it may look like he's gonna explode outta here,
but in truth, he's not.
Soon as you open up the door, now he's just gonna
kinda slowly kinda check you guys out.
He's so smart that he literally,
he's like, "Who are you people?
"I don't know you, I'm gonna smell
"and I'm gonna take my time and come out."
But the reason I have this ball in my hand
is I'm gonna show you guys in a second here,
he's actually trained, it's called target training.
What we wanna do is we don't want him to ever think
a little kids finger is food, so what we do is we train him
to only eat if he sees a blue ball.
Mom, you first.
Take this, take this.
Squeeze really hard.
- Woop, gotta move in. - Squeeze real hard.
Harder, harder, harder, harder.
- You gotta hold. - Okay so,
give a second, watch.
Watch, Elvis come.
Up, up, up, up, up.
Now put it right in his mouth, go right down
to his mouth, there you go.
- Oh, he's got strength.
- I know, right?
- Pulled it right out of my hand.
- Up here, up here, come on.
All the way up, all the way up.
Come on, there you go, you can give him it now.
Good job, Elvis, good boy buddy.
Good boy, bud, good boy.
(upbeat music)
Mom, what do you think? - Thank you so much.
I'm just totally amazed.
- You liked it? - Oh yes, very much.
- [Brian] I'm so happy you came
and you held so much stuff, I'm so happy!
You made my day.
You guys all made it.
What do you guys think?
- This is amazing. - It was awesome.
- They enjoyed everything.
- [Brian] It's so great to have the family together
and to see all the hard work I did.
I'm so glad you guys are here for me,
so it's awesome, it's very awesome.
- This one's goin' in!
- I think the snake is happy goin' down my arm.
(everyone laughing)
- Guys, I tell ya what, I never thought in my wildest dreams
that I would have this moment.
You know, the moment where not only my whole family is here
that I grew up with, my brother and my sister, and my mom,
but the fact that my mom's been handling animals
and she always hated 'em and she never thought
I was doing something that was meaningful I guess,
and it was amazing to see her open up
and seems like she enjoyed it.
She held the tarantula, I mean, it is amazing,
and I guess again, just to encourage you guys,
don't ever give up.
When you're following your dreams,
even if the people around you aren't gonna
support you immediately, maybe down the road
they'll see what you're doing and they'll be proud of you
and this has been such an emotional experience for me,
I'm glad that I was able to share it with you guys
and bring you guys along 'cause you're my family, too.
And it's one of the better days of my life,
I'm not gonna lie to you.
I'm just kinda shaking on the inside from excitement
and everything I think I might need a nap after this
'cause I'm gonna be emotionally drawn,
but what an amazing time.
Truly amazing to have my mom and my family here today,
I mean after all these years working
and finally having them see all of this
was so emotional and so incredible,
and I want to just continue to tell you guys
to follow your dreams, and even if people around you
aren't supporting you, one day they may come around,
and today was that day, and it was one of the happiest days
I can ever remember.
I hope that you guys enjoyed this vlog.
If you did, here's another video I think you would like.
An entire playlist if you'd like to hit right over here.
Over here you can hit that subscribe button,
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Have a wonderful day, be kind to someone,
and I promise, I'll see you guys tomorrow.
(upbeat music)