Rusty Slate?

[Ruszian Tortoise]

Hi,
I have a piece of slate I feed my tortoise on. It needed disinfecting (long story) so I washed it off with some dish soap and scrubbed the tricky edges (they're rough). I left it outside for a few nights before doing this. Now, it seems to have little reddish orange bits on it's back.
Is this rust?
Can I still use it?
Thank you so much.

 

[zovick]

Hi,
I have a piece of slate I feed my tortoise on. It needed disinfecting (long story) so I washed it off with some dish soap and scrubbed the tricky edges (they're rough). I left it outside for a few nights before doing this. Now, it seems to have little reddish orange bits on it's back.
Is this rust?
Can I still use it?
Thank you so much.

The slate probably had some traces of iron in it which rusted when it was left in a damp enough environment. I do not think it will hurt anything to continue using that slate.

 

[Maro2Bear]

It’s good, those spots won’t cause any harm.