It’s strange to me how unpopular king/milksnakes are (comparatively to other species). Some are so brightly colored and patterned that they pass for living gummy worms, and that’s at their natural state before even getting into morphs (and/or hybrids). Not to mention the majority are great beginner species with their environment tolerance and infamous appetites. Yet at any given expo I go to I’ll see them at maybe 4-5 tables at most. Only exception I can think of are MBKs (which ironically are completely black), and even then their demand fell off a cliff because they used to go for $400-500, now you can get one for $100 with some looking.
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Depending on the species and individual, I find a lot of the ones I’ve interacted with more flighty, musky, and/or bitey than other colubrids like corns. Not sure if that’s why they’re lower in popularity, or possibly because there aren’t as many morphs? Black milks are one of my top favorites though! Very underrated.
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My thoughts exactly! I have had several milk snakes that I gave up because of the musking and biting. I do agree though that they come in some gorgeous original colors!
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I’ve had a few good experiences with Pueblans…but for the most part my experience has been the same. Basically a repeat of everything Olivia has said.
I’d also probably consider that they’re a step more difficult to breed because they have been known to cannibalize. Cornsnakes aren’t as prone to it so it’s a good start to introduce yourself to colubrids.
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We have had a couple of grey banded kings and a couple of MBK’s and ours, once outside that baby/juvie stage, do settle down and become quite wonderful snakes. I know one of our GBK’s had to have been handled by hundreds of kids over the years in our classes.
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This is true. But it’s just getting past that stage! 
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I frankly forgot their tendency to potentially eat each other. They eat other snakes though so I shouldn’t be surprised. I can imagine that would be an off-putting aspect to deal with from a breeder’s perspective.
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Yeah, as others have said, I think it’s mainly the fact that they take more work to socialize to get them really handleable, compared to other popular beginner species like corns. I know that for me personally, the musking is a significant turn off. Biting I can handle, but stinky mystery liquid from the no-no place is pretty unappealing. 
As for why MBKs seem to be the most popular these days despite being the least colourful…I think a lot of people just love all-black reptiles. And all-white reptiles. Solid black and solid white reptiles just seem to appeal to a lot of people, whatever the species. Just look at the prices that melanistic and/or leucistic morphs will fetch, especially when they’re new.
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