I have two friends who have adult pairs that have 30-40 babies they sell each year. I know that one thing that cuts those numbers down, is that EBN are more finicky than most garters as newborns and can be a pain to work with at first. They have more of a tendency to be flighty, not want to eat at all or they spook and then won't eat, and are very bullheaded about wanting fish or worse, frog as a meal. I have never seen one touch an earthworm either. I don't find them to be that uncommon, but I do find that a lot of people buy the babies because they are so pretty and lose them because they are a bit delicate for their first few months of life and they're not a species that can be as easily convinced to eat, or to eat something else, as others. Once they get going, they tend to do really well. It's just the babies are on the higher maintenance side of garters, which are already high maintenance to begin with.