Someone was trying to rehome a rabbit in a bad situation near me, and I felt terrible that I didn't take him in. It got me thinking if a second bun is do-able for me...

I have a 1.5 year old mini lop named Bacardi who lives with me at college. I'm at home most of the day with him so he spends a lot of time outside of his cage (mainly attempting to eat my textbooks the entire time), but he also has a 3 story NIC cage for when I'm not home to supervise. It seems like everyone suggests getting a partner to keep them company, but I have a few concerns.

1. Higher Costs

I currently buy hay by the bale, bulk litter, and bulk pellets. I grow herbs and kale for him, and buy other greens at a farmers market. Will my general costs double with two buns or is it cheaper adding a second? I have a bit of money set aside for any emergency vet costs, but with a second bun I worry I can't afford for them to both get sick at the same time. How much do people set aside per bun in general? It's ~$50 for a general checkup, and ~$300 for a neutering surgery to get a general idea of what my vet charges. I would adopt a fixed bun to avoid the cost of the surgery again

2. Space

I live by myself in an efficiency apartment. It's pretty tiny; ~400 sqft. Finding space for a second cage is pretty much impossible, but it would be manageable for a while during the bonding process. Would sharing a 2x3 NIC cage be okay for them once they're bonded? Bacardi currently spends the night and ~4 hrs a day in it. A second concern on space is when I have people watch him if I go away for a weekend. I have a 42" plastic bottom cage that was his first cage that lives at my parent's house along with extra supplies. He usually only spends a night or two at a time there, but since my mom is allergic he doesn't get much play time outside of the cage. This would be way too small for two buns to share over the weekend right? An xpen isn't possible there without it being in our unfinished basement which gets very cold.

3. Time

So I've heard horror stories of months and months of trying to bond. I worry that I won't have the time required to bond them without ignoring school work. How much time do people dedicate to bonding their buns?

Some photos of Bacardi