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Brian Barczyk, a reptile expert whose upbeat videos attracted millions of fans on social media and who starred in the reality TV show \u201cVenom Hunters\u201d on Discovery<\/a>, died on Sunday at his home in Michigan. He was 54.<\/p>\n The cause was pancreatic cancer, according to Stephanie Kent, a representative for The Reptarium, a reptile zoo that Mr. Barczyk founded with his wife, Lori Barczyk, in Utica, Mich.<\/p>\n Mr. Barczyk\u2019s love of reptiles began as a boy. He had said that his earliest memory was coming across a ball python at the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember that like it was yesterday, and ever since, I\u2019ve just been obsessed,\u201d he told the Hollywood Soapbox in 2016<\/a>. \u201cNo one taught me this obsession. I always tell people, \u2018I was born with a reptile gene because it\u2019s just in me.\u2019 I spent every summer catching garter snakes out in the local woods.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A native of southeast Michigan, Mr. Barczyk spent decades commercially breeding snakes. His company, BHB Reptiles, had tens of thousands of the reptiles in a warehouse at any given point, he told The Detroit Free Press in 2015. His customers included Saul Hudson<\/a>, better known as Slash, the guitarist from Guns N\u2019 Roses.<\/p>\n Mr. Barczyk\u2019s rise to prominence began in 2008 with the launch<\/a> of an educational YouTube channel, SnakeBytesTV, as well as his posting from his personal web page. The videos are cheerful how-tos on various snake-related topics, including some in which Mr. Barczyk explains how to safely breed and transport them, how to deal with snake bites and why, contrary to popular opinion, the bites aren\u2019t so bad (depending on the snake).<\/p>\n His following on YouTube had grown to more than 5 million at his death, while his TikTok account has more than 7 million<\/a> followers. He also had an Instagram account with 1.7 million followers<\/a>.<\/p>\n