What was Brian Barczyk’s net worth at the time of his death?
Brian Barczyk had a net worth of $3 million at the time of his death. Ok, maybe it’s not just snakes that feature on Brian Barczyk’s channel—he also has starred in the form of geckos, alligators, and countless other reptiles.
In fact, Barczyk was famous for exactly that—he’s a reptile wrangler.
He had appeared on shows like Discovery’s Venom Hunters, and hosted his own series on AnimalBytesTV.
He had a reptile zoo where he and his family offered private tours and let you meet the stars of the show—like venomous snakes and a blue-tongued skink.
These things are just a side hustle when you compare them to Barczyk’s self-named YouTube channel.
There, he collaborated with some of YouTube’s biggest stars—guys like Mr.Beast, Pewdiepie, and David Dobrik.
The social media reptile celebrity may live for wildlife, but he’s also a self-proclaimed family man (in fact, his family all work with him!).
Here’s what else we know about Brian Barczyk.
The Origin Story
Brian Barczyk was born on September 6, 1969, in Detroit, Michigan.
Brian was the youngest of three kids, being raised by a solo mom.
His mom was not an animal fan—pets were probably just another mouth to feed in their low-income home—and his siblings weren’t all that interested in having pets anyway.
It was a totally different story for young Brian.
From the age of two, he fell in love with animals.
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On a visit to Belle Isle Zoo in Detroit when he was a toddler, meeting his first-ever snake—a ball python—is one of his earliest memories.
As a kid, he’d try and convince other kids to come tramping with him to look for snakes and lizards.
He’d trap what he could and bring them home to care for them, until at one point he was a 10-year-old with 30 baby snakes living in his garage.
He explains that he’d release them all into the wild after a few months, and admits that he wouldn’t recommend it—for the kids doing the feeding, or for the reptiles themselves.
When he was a teenager, his mom let him buy his first snake provided he kept it in the basement and did all the feeding and handling himself.
He enthusiastically agreed and worked to support his growing brood of snakes.
At one point before he moved out of home, he’d spent his entire savings on an albino Burmese python.
Brian would go on to study biology at university and launch a career as a private snake and reptile breeder.
Wife
Brian Barczyk met his wife, Lori, and the pair tied the knot in 1992—when Brian was only 23.
They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Jade, not long after, and then a son named Noah a few years after that.
Jade got married in 2017, and her doting father walked her down the aisle.
Brian and Lori’s kids may be grown, but his fur babies—husky Arthemus and German Shepard Zeus—still live at home.
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An Unlikely Career Path
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When it comes to YouTube, Brian is an old hand—he’s been uploading videos about snakes and his other reptilian friends since 2008.
He’s run his social media channel in association with his breeding business—BHB Reptiles—and his other channels—SnakeBytesTV and AnimalBytesTV.
He’s drawn in experts from all over the world for interviews and been featured on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, the BBC, NatGeo, and more.
Clearly all this activity isn’t enough for Barczyk—because he also runs a zoo specifically for reptile enthusiasts. The Reptarium is located in Utica in Southeast Michigan.
The Reptarium
The Reptarium is a zoo that Barczyk created to house all his reptiles and educate the public on how to care for them, protect them, and get to know them safely in their own environments.
There’s a lot to look at—pythons, Boas, a two-headed snake, a blue-tongued Skink, monitor lizards, chameleons, alligators, tortoises, turtles, and more.
Oh, and as of 2020, Brian has also adopted a sloth.
He and his crew—which is mostly his son Noah, and his staff Jessica and Bruce—also run private tours when they’re at home in Michigan.
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The Value of Education
Many of Brian’s fans have expressed concerns about what shows as he does for the safety and longevity of the species he highlights.
People worry that his show only increases the monetary value of these snakes, and encourages people to poach or acquire them for financial gain—essentially a black market for snakes.
Brian understands the risk of this, and vows that he will never showcase private breeders or collectors of snakes.
His goal is to shine a light on the conservation and behavior of snakes, to educate people on how to understand the species better and live in harmony with it.
Death
Brian Henry Barczyk passed away on January 14, 2024. He was 54. The cause was pancreatic cancer.
Net Worth – BHB Reptiles
So, how much was Brian Barczyk worth? Barczyk earned most of his wealth from selling merch, sponsors (like Dollar Shave Club and Hello Fresh), ads on YouTube, ads on TikTok, and from managing The Reptarium. Therefore, American vlogger Brian Barczyk had an estimated net worth of $3 million.
On YouTube, Brian had over 1.38 billion views meaning about $4 million in revenue before taxes.
Want to learn more about Brian Barczyk and snakes? Check out his YouTube channel!
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I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.