- All right, everything goes this way
and I'm not doing it the other way.
As I've been doing this more
and getting the enjoyment out of the Reptarium,
I have been less excited about opening up a snake rack.
("Propeller Ballpoint" by Joel Kionga)
Hey, good morning everybody and welcome to the vlog.
Today I'm gonna talk about something
that's pretty controversial.
Rack systems.
That's right.
I want to talk to you guys about rack systems.
Now, I've mentioned before
that I'm gonna try to do this town hall
with a handful of industry people,
naturalistic people, YouTubers.
A bunch of different things where we can
start the conversation about rack systems.
Now with any luck,
that will happen at the end of May or sometime in June.
Waiting to just find out when it works for everyone
in particular, I am excited
that Emily from Snake Discovery
said that she wants to be a part of it.
So I want to make sure that her schedule works.
We're gonna have Kenan from Kamp Kenan up,
gonna have my buddy Forrest, Kevin from NERD,
a bunch of cool people.
So regardless, the idea behind it is
what can we do to kind of change
not only the perception of racks,
but also maybe the industry standard of what racks mean.
Now let me start by saying that there's a few things
to consider when you're talking about a snake rack.
You want what's best for the snake,
you want what's best for the keeper,
and you want what's best for the hobby.
And those aren't always the same thing,
and I understand that.
I want to make perfectly clear that I think keeping snakes
in racks which are kind of what we call minimalistic
or commercial type industry standards,
whatever the case may be.
And the vast majority of people that breed snakes
breed them the same way.
But I understand that sometimes my exposure
means I should be held to a different standard,
and maybe I need to re-look at the way I think about things.
And sometimes we have to realize what's best for the animal
or what can work with the animal
isn't always what's best for the image
of working with the animal.
And maybe that's kind of where I've gotten to the point.
I've always said that my journey in reptiles
is always at evolution.
And sometimes people will actually say
that I don't listen to critics,
which couldn't be further from the truth.
Everyone that knows me and has spent any time with me
realizes that I'm always listening to the critics.
Now let me say, if you come at me
and say that right off the bat I'm a terrible person
and that you hate me, and that you want me to change,
that's probably not constructive criticism.
But if you come at me and say,
"Brian, I actually think that you should
"keep your animals in a different way because of this,"
and you have reasonable reasons,
of course I'm going to listen,
and I have listened.
And before I get too deep into this,
I do want to tell you that I think
that I want to change the way I do things.
Is it right for the industry to have a standard?
I'm not 100% sure.
That's part of what this panel's going to do.
But I want to talk about my feelings, my personal feelings,
not only where I am as a keeper of reptiles,
but also with the feedback and where I'm at
on this platform that you guys are watching on.
But what I mean by that is that I think that I have to have
a better image for the animals
for the betterment of the hobby itself,
even if that isn't really what's good for BHB,
and potentially what doesn't even really matter
for the animals that much.
And what I mean by that is sometimes we do anthropomorphism,
which basically means that we attach our human emotion
to an animal, rather than thinking about what's best
just for that animal.
So, if we put a plant in a ball python's cage,
that makes us feel better about keeping
that animal in that cage,
rather than really what the animal cares about.
Because the truth is, that ball python
probably doesn't really care about that plant.
But listen, I don't want you to think
that it's not important how we feel
about caring for animals,
because there is that too, right?
So even though an animal may not care
if there's a fake plant in the cage,
if it makes us feel better,
and it makes our hobby look better,
then maybe that fake plant is a good idea.
These are all things that are going through my head
that I wanted to share with you and kind of come clean
not only with the way I feel,
but also with the way you guys feel.
So often times what happens is
if I don't express the way I feel,
you guys assume I only feel a certain way,
and that's not what I want to have happen at all.
And I have to be careful of how I express myself,
because I don't want to throw anyone under the bus.
I don't want to tell people that do keep snake rats,
which are tens of thousands of people around the world
that they're doing something wrong.
I don't know what the answer is.
What I'm going to tell you is how I feel about myself,
and I want to come clean about that.
I want to tell you guys what's been on my mind
for several months,
and since a lot of people have reached out to me
about the rat system, although I have listened to that,
the truth is, I've been evolving to
a different way of keeping animals.
Hence the Reptarium.
And let me tell you,
once you start getting into more naturalistic big cages
and stuff like that, it is addictive.
It's nice to see the animals crawl around
and use things like rocks and trees and crevices.
It's awesome, and it's something that I've become
unbelievably passionate about.
But it's not like I can just change overnight, right?
It's not like I can just go,
all right everything goes this way,
and I'm not doing it the other way.
It's about an evolution, it's about time,
and it's also about doing things intelligently.
We have to think about it, we have to decide,
and then we have to make that type of change
which could take time.
I said it a year and a half ago,
that give me time and I'm going to prove
that I want to do something like the Reptarium.
It took me close to a year to get it done,
but here I am standing in the Reptarium.
So let's go ahead and get into the rack situation.
This is the way we keep an adult corn snake right here,
an absolutely beautiful snake.
And obviously we are keeping it
in a relatively minimalistic cage.
It has a water dish, it has bedding, and it has a hot spot,
and that's basically about it.
Now, a lot of people have talked
about hide boxes and snakes like this.
And what I've mentioned in the past,
if you're talking about just what a snake needs,
maybe it's minimalistic needs.
I'm not 100% sure.
Again, that's something that I've been struggling
with a lot lately.
But the fact is, is that this box itself
is kind of used as a hide box,
because once it's pushed in, it feels comfortable in there.
It's kind of a little bit like if you found a snake
in a tree stump, you wouldn't find a hide box
in that tree stump, right?
But with that being said, I'm not opposed to putting
a hide box in there, and as a matter of fact,
we may end up in that direction.
And the truth is, is that as I've been doing this more
and getting the enjoyment out of the Reptarium,
I have been less excited about opening up a snake rack.
I'm not gonna lie, and some people
may be surprised to hear that,
some people may be upset at me that I've said it,
because I just said it.
Yes, I am not that excited about opening up this box.
Now, I'm super excited about how beautiful this snake is,
and I'm super excited about hatching eggs
and breeding and doing all those types of things.
But I would like to do it in a way
that I personally feel better about it.
Again, is it totally making the animals health better?
That's a conversation that we continue to need to have,
and I want to start with this town hall panel.
The truth is, is that I want what's best for me
and what's best for our hobby.
And maybe, even though this snake right here
might do completely fine without climbing and rocks
and all the enrichment parts.
The truth is, the hobby would do better
if a guy like me actually provided that,
because it's a better image, if you get my point.
Now here's where it gets a little tricky.
You may say, snap your fingers, change everything
and we're all good.
Well listen, there's a whole bunch of things to consider.
Number one, it costs a lot of money to change things,
it's gonna take time to change things,
and then where do I want to change it?
You know, the one thing that concerns me the most
and why this isn't an easy topic,
and there isn't an easy solution is,
let's say instead of keeping a rack like this
that keeps 30 tubs in this rack,
I want to keep 10 animals in the same area.
A little bit more higher enrichment,
a little bit more naturalistic and breed them that way,
that means that I basically have the same expenses
in the same area,
but I only have a third of the amount of animals.
Which means that it costs me more money
to produce those animals,
and then somehow I have to justify that cost
onto people that are buying from me.
I've made this argument before.
Would you be willing to buy a $20.00 gecko
for $30.00 if it was produced more naturalistically?
And the truth is, is there's probably only a small amount
in the market that would actually do that.
But that's okay, because I'm not doing BHB
for the money anyways.
I'm doing BHB for myself, for my crew, for the hobby
and all kinds of stuff like that.
Now I do have to somehow make enough money
to pay my crew, right?
'Cause I can't lose money on BHB,
that wouldn't make any sense.
So it's a little bit more complicated than the surface is,
and I think that that's why we have to delve into it
and figure out what's best for everybody, right?
What's best for the animal, what's best for me,
what's best for the hobby.
And that's why I'm starting to talk to you about it,
and these are the types of things
I want to talk about at the panel.
Let's talk about this panel really quick.
We're gonna have it Aquascape in Chicago,
and there's gonna be the ability to maybe 50
or even 100 people to attend.
We will not charge anybody for attending,
but there will be moderators.
We'll allow audience participation with questions.
We also want to livestream it on this channel.
And by the way, all proceeds from the livestream
and anything else, we're not gonna charge to get in,
but if there is any kind of other money,
it's gonna go towards a charity.
Let me know in the comments what charity you think
I should donate it to, we'll continue to look on that.
The point is that the livestream will have the ability
to also have a live chat feature
where you can ask questions,
a moderator can actually ask us the questions
that you're asking, the live audience can ask questions,
and this panel of group of people will be able
to kind of discuss this as adults, not an argument.
I don't want anyone to win this conversation.
I want the hobby to win this conversation.
And again, I've been thinking about this
for a long time, people.
And I know it's hard to believe
because I keep snakes in racks like this
and have for over 30 years.
It's hard for people to understand that
I am really concerned about the image
that we're giving off.
A lot of country's in Europe,
you're not even allowed to keep snakes in racks.
Is that going to eventfully be the case in America?
So maybe as a hobby, we need to be proactive
and start making some changes that are going to
be good for everyone, including the hobby.
So I want to start to get this off my chest.
Let me know in the comments what you're thinking so far.
And like I mentioned, I want to be
completely honest with you guys.
You know, I've been doing BHB and breeding snakes
for almost 30 years.
I've always talked about the fact
that I don't like selling snakes.
Now, I'm appreciative of anyone that buys animals
and supports BHB,
but I personally am not a fan of it just because
I don't know, that's not why I do BHB.
And the truth is is that I'm conflicted about
what the future of BHB is.
I've talked about the fact
that racks don't really excite me anymore.
And let me just be clear,
I'm never going to throw my friends under the bus
that keep snakes in racks,
because I want to create the conversation.
I don't want to be us against them,
I don't want to be vitriolic,
because I think that's one of the problems right now,
is that it is this kind of got you society
where I'm saying, oh he's bad, he's bad, I'm good.
I don't want to do that.
What I'm trying to say is, I don't know
what the future of BHB is.
The truth is, if it wasn't for the fact
that I have an amazing crew,
that this is their career, this is how they pay their bills,
this is what they do,
and I have a lot of responsibility when it comes to that.
I will never lay them off.
I will always have to find a way
to transition to something else.
So, with that said, I can see BHB changing a lot.
And over the next two, three, four, five years,
I'm not going to phase BHB out,
but I think it will be a very different company
than it is today.
Maybe not as much production,
maybe the cage's environments that I'm breeding them in
will be completely different.
I'm not 100% sure, but I want to be honest with you guys.
I am always trying to think ahead,
and the Reptarium really has changed my viewpoint
of how I want to keep animals.
That's not to say that how I want to keep animals
is the best way or the only way.
I'm just saying for me personally,
I am enjoying these naturalistic cages.
Seeing the animals climb,
seeing the animals use different heat gradients,
seeing kind of that enrichment.
It's something that I really love a tremendous amount,
and it's something I'm sure BHB will
have to one day kind of incorporate.
And that's why this town hall I think
will be so amazing for me, as well as everyone else,
is to talk about where we go from here.
How do we not only do what's good for the animals,
and good for us, but also do what's good
for the image of the reptile keeping hobby?
Now I'm not trying to say that I want you
or anyone to think that I have all the answers,
because I don't.
Again, I've been doing this my whole life
and I still have more questions than I have answers.
I'm speaking from my heart.
I have listened to people that think I
should do something different because
of the image and the outreach that we have
on this platform and other platforms.
I also, personally feel it is time for a change.
But again, that change can't happen overnight.
It's gonna take time, because it's not like I can just
unplug everything and say,
all right, well all these animals needs to go somewhere.
The fact is, it has to have a plan,
and that plan is going to take time,
and I want you guys to be part of the change
that's going to happen.
I want you to give me your suggestions,
I want your encouragement while I'm going through this.
And together, we can make a better place.
Because the truth is, even though
some people don't think it,
all I want to do is what's best for these animals,
and what's best for the future.
I want the next generation, the generation after that,
and the generation after that to be able to keep
and enjoy these animals, 'cause I can't imagine a future
without being surrounded by these animals.
And I certainly don't want my great-grandkids,
or my great-great-grandkids to not be able to enjoy
the same thing I do.
And I have to wonder, if we continue down the path
that we're doing, much like Forrest said,
why we are keeping these animals, what is the reason
behind keeping them?
We may lose it all, or at least lose a big portion of it.
So, there's a lot of questions to be asked,
and there's a lot of answers to still be found.
But I hope that you guys will join me on the continuation
of this conversation.
Not only with the panel, but moving forward.
I'm sorry that today didn't have a bunch of animals
and a bunch of cool stuff, or there really wasn't
much of a story.
But it was something I wanted to come clean,
talk to you guys, share my ideas,
and find out what you guys think.
Do me a favor in the comments and let me know
what you think about what I said.
Am I on the right track?
Am I overreacting?
Is all of this kind of getting to me?
I don't know.
I want to know from you guys what I should do,
how I should go forward,
and how we as a community can come together,
rather than ripping ourselves apart
like we've done over the last little while.
So, that's it guys.
I'm ending the vlog, I'm going to leave it to you.
Let me know what you think,
let's have this conversation in the comments,
as well as moving forward.
Have a wonderful day, your support is amazing,
I love you guys so much.
Be kind to someone, I promise, I will see you tomorrow.
("Propeller Ballpoint" by Joel Kionga)