diff --git a/consulate/__init__.py b/consulate/__init__.py
index 4a14571..f5500a3 100644
--- a/consulate/__init__.py
+++ b/consulate/__init__.py
@@ -38,10 +38,13 @@ class Consul(object):
 
     """
     def __init__(self, host=DEFAULT_HOST, port=DEFAULT_PORT,
-                 datacenter=None, token=None):
+                 datacenter=None, token=None, adapter=None):
         """Create a new instance of the Consul class"""
         base_uri = self._base_uri(host, port)
-        self._adapter = adapters.Request()
+        if adapter:
+            self._adapter = adapter
+        else:
+            self._adapter = adapters.Request()
         self._acl = api.ACL(base_uri, self._adapter, datacenter, token)
         self._agent = api.Agent(base_uri, self._adapter, datacenter, token)
         self._catalog = api.Catalog(base_uri, self._adapter, datacenter, token)
diff --git a/consulate/adapters.py b/consulate/adapters.py
index fc6d776..b3c2590 100644
--- a/consulate/adapters.py
+++ b/consulate/adapters.py
@@ -41,10 +41,18 @@ def inner(*args, **kwargs):
 
 
 class Request(object):
+
     """The Request adapter class"""
-    def __init__(self):
-        """Create a new request adapter instance"""
+
+    def __init__(self, timeout=None):
+        """
+        Create a new request adapter instance.
+
+        :param int timeout: [optional] timeout to use while sending requests
+            to consul.
+        """
         self.session = requests.Session()
+        self._timeout = timeout
 
     def delete(self, uri):
         """Perform a HTTP delete
@@ -54,7 +62,7 @@ def delete(self, uri):
 
         """
         LOGGER.debug("DELETE %s", uri)
-        response = self.session.delete(uri)
+        response = self.session.delete(uri, timeout=self._timeout)
         return api.Response(response.status_code,
                             response.content,
                             response.headers)
@@ -67,7 +75,7 @@ def get(self, uri):
 
         """
         LOGGER.debug("GET %s", uri)
-        response = self.session.get(uri)
+        response = self.session.get(uri, timeout=self._timeout)
         return api.Response(response.status_code,
                             response.content,
                             response.headers)
@@ -88,7 +96,9 @@ def put(self, uri, data=None):
             headers = {'Content-Type': CONTENT_JSON}
         if not utils.PYTHON3 and data:
             data = data.encode('utf-8')
-        response = self.session.put(uri, data=data, headers=headers)
+        response = self.session.put(
+            uri, data=data, headers=headers, timeout=self._timeout
+        )
         return api.Response(response.status_code,
                             response.content,
                             response.headers)