A healthy RES should be able to last for months out of water with no food. Just don't know how much proper shell growth yours has. That's what keeps them from dehydrating -- good solid bone growth. At 4 years old, your turtle should be at least 6 inches long straight line measurement of the shell.
Can you grasp the concept of the moisture you would find under a log or rock in the wild/in your yard? The kind of microhabitat where pill bugs, spiders, insects, slugs, and earthworms would live. Moist, not soggy, airy leaf litter humus. Friable soil. Or just use damp Sphagnum Moss.
If you understand, then that is what your turtle needs. Cover him in a tub of that mixture at about 80 degrees F. Take him out and soak in shallow water once a week.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

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