paddletail almost never swims...?

I have my paddletail in a small tank, about 12" by 7". He has aquarium gravel, a small turtle dock, a whisper filter, and an aquarium rock. He never seems to swim, he just sits or walk on the aquarium gravel on the bottom of his tank. He also never gets on his turtle dock, and when I try to put him on it he jumps off into the water and sinks to the bottom. Is there something wrong with him? Have you ever heard of a paddletail newt that can't swim?

My paddletail rarely just swims around the tank. She will actively walk around and explore for food, but as far as just swimming - I have only ever seen her do this when she is stressed from me doing tank maintenance, or if I have just dropped some food in and she is swimming to find it. She also rarely uses her island. Pachytritons from my understanding are one of the most aqautic species of newt - they do not routinely haul out of the water unless they are very stressed or are ill. As long as your newt continues to eat well, I would not worry too much about its activity level, and I would stop forcing it onto the turtle dock as this will stress it as well. It doesn't seem to like being on the dock, so stop putting it there. Just let it get settled with as little disruption as possible.
Heather

It's totally normal for a paddletail to never go up on land. It's still a good idea to keep the dock there, just in case, but it's likely he'll never use it (voluntarily). There is really no reason for you to be picking up the newt, except on rare occasions when you absolutely have to.

It's also normal for most newts to walk about on the bottom of the tank more than they swim. I would also mention that perhaps a 12x7" tank is too small for him to really do much swimming.

Thanks! Also, I realize my tank is sort of small, but I'm still trying to find a bigger one that I can afford.