Illness/Sickness: Need URGENT help with chinese fire belly newt

Dear all,

I have a chinese fire belly newt since last february. After some initial adjustments - most the information the store gave me was not accurate.. he is not very active and he never seemed to eat much.
I am new to this so any help or advice would be great.

I have a single newt in a aquarium mostly with water some fake plants and one live plant, with a few dry areas. As he never ate much, i have been trying diferent types of food.
However, i have noticed that he is very thin (kind of disporportionated in overall body size and the size of his head). As of yesterday he doesn't seem to eat, and keeps laying on it back every time he is underwater.. He also seems to have some difficulty moving around and seems uncoordinate in moving his limbs.

I checked the water ph and nitrate levels and there weren't any changes. At the store were i got him, they told me that it is normal for them not to be active, and that they usually don't eat before they feel adjusted to a new tank.. But since i have him since february and only changed his tank setting once (and it was well over one month ago) i think it probably have nothing to do with his tank.

What can I do?

The laying on its back sounds bad...:S the uncoordination is also a very bad sign...could be the result of severe undernurrishment or some metabolic inbalances. Bad stuff.....
It´s very common for these poor newts to not eat well in captivity if conditions are not optimal after they have been purchased (they suffer really bad conditions both during the importation and in most shops).
Could you upload a picture of your enclosure or give us more details? The minimum water volume recommended for even a single of these newts it typically 40l. You should make sure you have at least those 40l of available water, a ridiculously large amount of plants (i HIGHLY recommend live plants in vast quantities, it´s magic for water quality and these newts love it) and adequate temperatures. Also make sure to cycle the tank properly.

Try feeding it earthworms and waxworms (if dusted with adequate suplements, even better). Those are the best choices right now and the most likely to entice it to eat at all.