why is my newt inactive now ?

Hello everyone, quick question, I was going to clean my newts tank about a month and a half ago, so i got my 2.5 inch fire belly newt to put him in a temporary tank, while i cleaned his current tank. At that time, he was extremely active and always moving and running. So accidentally i was not fast enough when he started to run, so he fell. It was on the carpet, but still he fell He fell on his back because I remember I could see all his belly, then he slowly flipped himself over. Ever since then He has been really slow and not as active anymore. now when i get him to change his tank (which i am very carefull now) he wont even run or anything, if anything he walks slowly rarely. Other than not being active and just sitting outside of the water all day not really moving, unless i put him in the water (which he just climbs back out) he seems fine. He walks normally and even eats very well like he used to. I just dangle worms infront of his face with my hands and he snatches them in a second! Could the fall have injured him ? Ever since then he just sits outside the water and stayes there not really moving much at all. His skin is always extremely dry, so once in a while i put him in the water, but within minutes he is back out on his floating foam and sits there like a statue. When he moves, he does move normally though. What could be wrong with him ? He used to always be with my other newt in the tank, they are best buds, and still are when i put him in the water, they never fight i always keep an eye on him. But he just wont go in the water now. my other newt is fine and always in the water. She was not as active as the small one that fell, but now they have switched. The small one is not active at all, and the big one is extremely active Any help would be appreciated.

I can think of several reasons that might explain your newt's behavior.

The first thing I can think of is your tank cleanings. It is not good to do full cleanings where you break down the tank and remove everything and scrub it out. This keeps beneficial bacteria from growing in the tank and helping process nitrogen compounds in the tank. Without nitrogen being processed into nitrate there is a buildup of toxic materials within the tank. Take a look at the articles on tank cycling and basic water quality to read up on this.

There really is no need to remove your animals from the tank when you are cleaning it out. You should be able to use a turkey baster or a siphon to clean off the bottom. Combined with weekly 20-30% water changes is all the routine maintenance you need to do.

The second thing would be handling your newts. Try to keep handling them to a minimum. I've only touched my newts once in the past year. My Cynops tends to hang out on his cork bark occasionally when I do water changes. After a few hours to a day he returns to the water. If your newt is sitting on the foam just leave him be. Make sure he can't completely dry out and if need be mist him but you don't need to dunk him back in the water.

There are some other important answers that would be useful, and here are their questions. What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank? How often do you do tank maintenance and what do you do? What is the temperature the newts are kept at?