Have corn snakes gone down in popularity?

Although I've been interested in snakes my entire life, I only finally got my first corn snake in 2011. That was also the first year I attended a reptile expo. The expo had a variety of reptiles and amphibians, but I would say that probably 60-75% were corn snakes. It was awesome! I just assumed that that was the "normal" ratio of corn snakes to other reptiles, since they are touted as being the best beginner reptile and they're colorful and fairly inexpensive.

The next few shows I went to over the years definitely did not have as many corns as that first show, but they always had good representation, probably like 25-40%. The most recent show I went to was last November and the corn selection was abysmal. Not only were there probably only 10-15 corns at the entire show, but several of them were mislabeled and most of them were overpriced (which is just my opinion based on previous prices for those morphs. Having higher prices is probably actually a good thing.) There was not a single corn snake exclusive breeder at that show. The corns for sale were always sort of an add-on to whatever species the person was mainly breeding and selling.

When I have looked on Craigslist over the past year, I have not seen any babies for sale. I only see adults or sub adults that are personal pets being rehomed.

The few local breeders that I have been in contact with previously do not appear to be breeding anymore and I feel like no one has replaced them. I'm not on Facebook, so I suppose I could just be missing out on where all the breeders are hanging out, but since Facebook does not allow animal sales, I can't imagine there's lots of new babies being sold there.

Now all of these observations are just my local area, so I don't know how the market is in other areas. Obviously this forum is (unfortunately!) quieter than it has been in the past, but I don't know if that is attributed to fewer people breeding or being interested in corns, or if it's because people have stopped using dedicated forums in general in favor of Facebook or whatever.

How does corn snake popularity seem to be faring in your area? Is this just part of the normal ebb and flow of interest?

I'm almost 63 years old. I can remember when I was about 7 or 8 people wanted King Snakes. There were several people in my neighborhood in Virginia that had King snakes and Milk snakes. I got my first snake when I was 17 (1974). At that time, Boa Constrictors were the big deal, and yes that was my first snake. Then I think the trend went more towards Ball Pythons a few years later. I can remember lots of people buying Ball Pythons in the 1990s. I'm sure corn snakes have had some sort of popularity along the way, but I personally don't recall seeing them in pet shops and hearing about them as pets until about maybe 15 years or so ago. Most of the pet stores in my area sell more King snakes and Ball pythons then anything else, but they do occasionally have corn snakes. There is one particular store I frequent that has an entire reptile Breeding/Selling department and they have a huge selection of all kinds of snakes and lizards. I got my corn snake from them about 6 years ago.

It's a bit cyclical. The nice thing is that at the last few expos I attended there were only 2 other people, maybe, selling corns so therefore most of my babies sold. But that was 3 years ago. Kingsnakes and bps are extremely popular right now. But eventually corns will be again.