I'm trying to imagine how smudging would kill snakes, and I'm having a lot of difficulty picturing it. Apart from completely filling the room with toxic smoke for a substantial time period, I think you should be looking into other possible causes.
Examples:
Is the heating device in the rack working properly? Is the thermostat working properly? If the thermostat malfunctioned, overheating may have resulted.
Was the window opened for the smudging? Was it left open? If so, was the outside temperature too high or too low for the snakes?
Were any aerosol chemicals used in the room?