The OP has play sand or regular sand, which should be removed ASAP because it's most likely causing the eye issues, or at the very least it's getting in the poor beardie's eyes that are already infected. The bulging eye may be due to him shedding, they do that sometimes to stretch skin, but because the other eye is obviously infected, chances are the other eye that is swollen is also infected, as eye infections usually spread. So either way the sand has to go...
To the person who responded to the post that has either blue Calcium Sand or blue gravel all through your beardie's tank, PLEASE REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY! It looks like colored Calcium Sand, which is a death trap because it turns to cement rocks when it gets wet, it dyes their skin, and gets full of bacteria and fungi. If it's not blue Calcium Sand but rather some kind of blue gravel then you also need to remove it, as IT'S ALL THROUGH HIS FOOD DISH, which is just making the overall issue worse. Your beardie could eat that easily and I promise you he is eating it every single day, little by little he's licking it, and it's collecting in his gastrointestinal tract. Eventually he's going to have a bad impaction and the collection of gravel/rock hard Calcium Sand will eventually put pressure on his spinal column and cause a partial paralysis. I know, I took in a rescue male about 4+ months ago who was very loved, but was kept on Calcium sand and fed mealworms. He has a permanent paralysis in his back legs from it and it took me over two weeks of intense medical treatment at home and a total certified reptile vet bill to date of over $1,250 for many visits, multiple x-rays, multiple blood panels, an endoscopy, an ultrasound, and multiple medications. And after all of that medical treatment, 3 massive, rock hard poops that hurt him badly, and a specialized, expensive diet from now on for the rest of his life, 4+ months later he's no longer impacted and poops normally but only if he's in a
bath and I help him, because the paralysis in his back end makes him too weak to push fecal matter out on his own. All because his very loving, caring prior owners kept him on a loose substrate from the time he was 1 month old when they got him to the day I went and picked him up at 10 months old. So please, save yourself and your beardie the pain, the permanent disabilities, the money, and the next 10 years+ of having to help him poop, eat, walk upright, etc. It's much easier to just remove the loose substrates people, really it is.
