Care of dwarf cherry head tortoises

Question
I live in Lake Havasu City, AZ, very hot and dry. Received a pair of dwarf cherry head tortoises as a gift and have a large pen for them in the backyard, on lawn, with shade from afternoon sun. Feed them greens and fruit, supplement calcium, water available, bark for burrowing. Any other suggestions? Can they live in 115 plus degree summer with shade and water? Appreciate any advice.

Answer
I would probably try some sort of cooling system and see if they used it at all. If they did, I'd build it in a little better version.

Some coolers you could try might include:
- some sort of mister/fogger system
- a swamp or desert cooler. I imagine a little 'hut' made up of some burlap or muslim over a few hoops and some water dripping on it from a suspended, insulated jug that can hold some ice on really hot days
- dripping water slowly onto some bark or leaf litter to burrow in.

Like I said- if they don't use it, I'd drop it. If they 'hog it', I'd increase it.

I also assume that the 'water available' is a soak pool and not just a drinking dish. If it isn't a pool, you might try that as well.

The G. carbonaria likes shade and humidity, I am absolutely unsure how it will do in high, dry heat.

You might try to contact people in your local or another desert area herpetological society and see what they know. A starting lead might be www.tortoise.org.