Speed dates are a good idea because you can see how your rabbit acts with another rabbit, you don’t have that option when you buy one. You’d also have to get him fixed and then wait a few weeks before starting the actual bonding. There are ways to try and bond them in both situations, however it’s probably simpler to adopt from a shelter.

Agree with Louie, waiting until your girl is spayed and then getting an altered castrated bun is for sure the simplest way to do things. But I also understand the urge to try to save a bun that might not be in a great situation. Bringing an unneutered bun around an unspayed or recently spayed female will likely result in a lot of poop and pee wars, so be ready for that if you go that route! And be prepared to keep them absolutely separate at first. Stinky un-neutered males are a handful!

In either case, even with speed dating, bonding can take longer than you think. Could you somehow get the shelter/rescue to take in the bunny you saw being sold? Then hopefully he would end up in a better situation and maybe they could handle the neuter…

Glad your girl’s spay went well!  Speed dating is nice but not essential. Sometimes a good speed date still means you spend months bonding! Are they not doing speed dates due to Covid or RHDV? Or both?

Some rescues will allow a “foster to adopt” trial period for bonding. They might be wary of this with an inexperienced bonder, but you could ask.

They also might be able to help you pick a good potential candidate. Typically the rescues know their buns’ personalities and whether they tend to get along with other bunnies.

That is nice they will let you “swap” until you find a good match (sounds like a foster-to-adopt situation). That should really help, because most bunnies are bond-able, it’s just that some pairings might be easier. Some pairs just do not work (or aren’t worth the effort and stress), but this is rare. Sometimes bunnies don’t even behave normally on dates at shelters, so trying at home is a good option.

You have some time to think and plan, because it takes several weeks for female’s hormones to stabilize after spaying.

If you weren’t able to bond the bunnies but wanted to keep the new one, you would need to keep them completely separate, but they could live as neighbors (but no play time together or anything). It’s worth thinking about how this could be set up, because during pre-bonding and the bonding process you would need a similar set up. You could either have them have play time at different times of day, or divide up the space using x-pen fencing (double walled with a buffer so they can’t nip through the fence).

I think if I was in your shoes, I would wait a few weeks and think over how you will set things up and if you are actually ready to undergo the bonding process etc. Then start looking at what males they have available at the shelter.

If you find one you like, then you could bring them home and do your own “speed date” in neutral territory. If they hate each other (like immediate fighting attempts), then you know it’s not a great match. If it seems workable, then you can undergo pre-bonding and the full process, with the knowledge that you always have the option to try another bunny if it doesn’t seem to be working.