Hero keeping eyes shut

Hero has been keeping both eyes shut for the last day or so. He ate last night-6 crix and 6 phoenix worms-he is 6 inches and about 2 1/2 months. He also ate 12 crix and 5 pw this morning. He is shedding his feet and head right now.
I have him in a 20GL long, with shelf liner on the floor. His lighting is a R-Zillia 9watt Desert 50 uvb light, a Sun Glo 150w Desert and Tropical Terrarium Bulb and at night I use a ceramic head bulb at night. The UVB light is resting on the tank screen lid. Is that too close? The 150watt is in a housing and resting on the screen too.Temps are staying pretty good-80-85 cool and 110 or so in direct basking area. I have a rock that is 3 story so he can go to 3 different levels to get as hot as he wants. I am giving him a bath about everyday, but did go 3 days w/o one b/c I was out of town and my boyfriend was watching him.
So, with him shedding around his eyes is it normal that he is keeping them closed? Is the UVB bulb too close and causing his eyes to do this?
Thanks for any help!

I am also wating on a MVB light that should be here in 3 days. When that comes I will change out the lights to just that.

I think that uvb is junk, but I suggest checking it out by turning off the uvb completely until you get the MVB you have on order in. The problems you are mentioning have been caused by the uvb that is so bad it puts out closer to uvc emissions which cause serious problems in the long run for beardies. When the uvb was turned off, they usually get better, some in a few days, some in a longer time.

I am not sure about the UV light you have. See if there is an improvement when you change to the MVB bulb. I know my beardie just shed his head and was keeping his eyes closed while the skin shed around his eyes. Also, my beardie closes his eyes when he is not feeling very well. Are his colors ok? Sometimes dehydration can cause them to shut their eyes (maybe they become dry?) Are you bathing him regularly now? Has he improved? good luck

yeah, the light must be causing the problem. he was not closing his eyes before I got that light. I only got that light from Petsmart b/c the MVB light was going to take over a week to get here and I did not want him to go with out any UVB. When I turn the light on it looks just like a tanning bed light. It is not coiled like the new lower wattage lights, but it is curved. Like a long bulb curved to fit into a smaller housing. It was really the only thing that Petsmart had when I was there. His color is pretty dark, but seems to have been like that since a couple days after I brought him home. The MVB will be here soon-can't wait! With the MVB bulb how far above the tank do I need to hang it? Putting it right on the screen lid will be too close correct? I am giving him daily baths, but did go a couple of days without one while I was gone. I just turned the light off so I will give an update later. I am just glad he has an appitite.
Thank you everyone!

I'm glad he seems a little better since turning off the UVB you were using. Yes, those bulbs are known to cause eyes problems.

Since you're using a 150 watt basking bulb in a 20 gallon tank, I suspect you're using a type of stick-on thermometer to check the temps. Those can be off by as much as 20 degrees and the only 2 ways to get an accurate reading is with either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer that has a long wire with a probe on the end. When I used a 20 gallon for one of my babies, I only needed a 60 watt household bulb in the summer and a 75 watt household bulb in the winter which gave me a basking temp of 105 with a cool side of 81 so your beardie has to be overheating. I suggest you replace the 150 watt with a smaller wattage household bulb. It would also be a good idea to bathe him a couple of times a day since he is probably at least somewhat dehydrated from the high wattage bulb. That will also help with his shedding.

We don't recommend using a mercury vapor bulb in a tank any smaller than a 40 gallon because they get very hot and put out a lot of strong ultra violet rays. With a 20 gallon, it's very hard to get the basking temp and cool side temps where they should be. What brand and wattage MVB do you have on order? Once we find out we can let you know if it will be safe to use it in that tank unless you plan on getting a larger tank very soon.

So I turned off the UVB light I had and he is opening his eyes more. I think it was a combination of the light and shedding that was making him keep his eyes shut. Whew! He is eating fine. I am planning on building a bigger tank soon, but what should I use for UVB for now while he is in the twenty?

That's great that you turned the dangerous UVB off and you already notice a change. It probably was a combination of things with the UVB being the biggest one.

Here's the best fluorescent UVB you can buy in the U.S. I'd say phenoix worms are great for a young beardie. http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
You can go to Walmart, Home Depot or Lowe's and get a standard fluorescent light like you would use over a kitchen sink, in a basement or garage, remove the plastic cover and the bulb that comes with it, replace with the UVB and leave the plastic cover off. It would be much cheaper to buy it at Walmart.

Have you thought about replacing the 150 watt bulb with a lower wattage since he is in only a 20 gallon tank? Are you using a type of stick-on thermometer?

this happend to my beardie he is now recovering i would suggest you take a look at this http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

So...I contacted Zillia about the light that was causing Hero to close his eyes. I told them the problem and they said that Petsmart should have pulled those lights a year ago. They were causing the conjuntivitis and causing a bunch of problems with reptiles. They said they destroyed all the old bad bulbs and will send me new replacement bulbs for free. They said they will contact Petsmart and make sure they pull the rest from the shelves. Just thought I would let everyone know in case they run into the same problem!

Glad to hear that you contacted them and that they were very receptive. I would still worry about using the same brand bulb again though as those bulbs don't put out enough UV rays to be beneficial at all. If I were you, I would still get a Repti-Sun 10.0 fluorescent as we all know that there are no problems at all with that one and puts out sufficient UVB.