***...he allowed his 32 ball python snakes to freeze to death in an unheated storage...***
So? The standard method of killing large numbers of starlings is to locate their roost on a cold night, spray them down with soapy water. The soap breaks down their natural oils allowing the water through to the skin, and the cold weather will kill them by “exposure”.
Killing birds that way seems cruel and painful - but killing a cold-blooded animal? It doesn’t shiver, just goes torpid and doesn’t wake up. I’ve euthanized sick tropical fish in the freezer.