Well, this might come as a surprise, but I was actually wrong about Brock of 2CanTV, the guy who thinks you should help pay for his new house in Texas because he purchased some toucans for his own pleasure. In the previous article, I stated that his first toucan was a Toco toucan named Ripley. It turns out that was wrong, consider this my retraction.
However, the information I just by sheer coincidence happened to stumble on while searching ‘pet toucan’ (why does the Google algorithm love this guy so much?) is perhaps even more damning.
Brock’s first toucan was a collard aracari, a much smaller species. Unsurprisingly, he has been showing off toucans for attention and getting praised for it a lot longer than I realized. Here is his AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit, posted 9 years ago. Interestingly, he seems to have deleted his account there, and I am unaware if he shared information about this bird before, as I haven’t (and certainly won’t) watch every one of his videos.
Here are pictures of the bird in question.
As you can see, Brock is actively promoting toucans as pets and there’s a shocking reason why, which I’ll get to in a second. Here are some very interesting highlights from the comments that young Brock, who now claims toucans and other exotic animals shouldn’t be kept as pets, has made:
- “Hardly any [noise], actually. They are MUCH quieter than any parrot. They make a purring sound when content and an almost velociraptor like call when communicating otherwise. Not to mention they don't bite the way parrots do. Their bills are actually fairly weak.”
- “They aren't demanding or moody as parrots are.”
- “I had a sugar glider too a few years back” (Gasp, yet another exotic pet!)
Where is Zoey?
Brock has made a nasty habit of feeding his toucans garbage like froot loops for no logical reason which I have pointed out in my previous post, and he continues to do so to this day, even though he is clearly aware he shouldn’t:
“Q: Do you feed him fruit loops? A: I have fed her a couple before, but its not recommended. They need a strict low iron diet. Believe it or not, they love starchy foods like spaghetti more than anything.”
Spaghetti? Why? Is it really that hard to just feed the dang birds fruit and pellets? So the question I have now is, where is this bird? It seems like Brock got this bird about 10 years ago, as you can see in this video he posted of Zoey, who appears to be a fledgling. In the video, she has an infected foot (perhaps bumblefoot, a disease animals tend to get from bacteria-laden conditions), and he posted the video to ask “toucan experts” for help. Brock got his toco toucan, Ripley, about 6 years ago.
This means Zoey ‘disappeared’ around 3-5 years of age. Was she given away or sold, did she escape (Brock proudly states he took her outdoors on his shoulder even though she was fully flighted, BAD idea) or did she die prematurely?
If so, Brock’s husbandry has resulted in the early deaths of two toucans, not one, and upon losing this aracari, he 'upgraded' to a larger, more expensive bird, which died around 6 years of age. So after that, Brock upgraded again, and invested at least $8000 on another, rarer, toucan, and purchased two other “rescue” toucans with his fan’s money soon after, the same people who he is asking to buy him a new house so he can obtain even more toucans, while also getting donations for their veterinary care. So now he has one of each species. It all comes to a circle when you learn this next fact…
Brock Wanted to BREED TOUCANS?
You’ve read that correctly! As though there wasn’t enough evidence that Brock is just a collector, not a noble and benevolent bird “rescuer” who deserves your donations, this statement he made really brings it home:
“I plan on going to school for zoology/ ornithology after I am done with my Network Security degree. Animals are one of my passions, ESPECIALLY birds. I can assure anybody with doubts that i have the upmost respect and care for these animals, and plan on breeding them as a side job in the next 5 years.”Here it is in plain English; Brock had plans to breed toucans, as pets, for profit, the ultimate sin in Pettube Land (it is unclear if he went and got that science education.) This is the same dude who is now claiming that they shouldn’t be pets (but they’re here, so he might as well buy them…that makes PERFECT sense) so he could play up to the irrational emotions of people who need to hear people say this so they can feel better about enjoying content from an exotic pet owner.
Said exotic pet owner needs to be self-hating and ‘parrot out’ animal rights rhetoric in order to be accepted and praised. It absolutely makes no sense, but it clearly works well for him.
I have so many questions. Was Ripley going to be a breeder? Did Brock just run out of funds to get her a mate? Did he just find a new way to make money off of his birds (okay, I know the answer to this one). Why doesn’t he (as far as I know) talk about Zoey on his Instagram, Youtube or Facebook (I did find one photo of her, but no explanation)? Is Brock now achieving his goals in the very most Carole Baskin-esque fashion as possible? I was so right about him, it’s almost scary.
After reading his comments, I started to see why perhaps Brock presumably hasn’t made mention of this little reddit post and the associated account is deleted on the archived thread. Here’s another interesting comment he made:
“Q: Have you/do you now plan to use Zoey to pick up chicks?”
Brock: “She's been picking up chicks for me ever since I got her. I showed that bitch an exotic animal. bitches love exotic animals.”
Reference to a meme…or hidden truth?
