diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 64898e9..5665180 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ You may use the following code block below as a template, which has some good de
     'protocol' => env('DB_PROTOCOL', 'https'),
     'cache_session_token' => env('DB_CACHE_SESSION_TOKEN', true), // set to false to log out after each reqeust. This can be slower than re-using a session token, but allows for globals to be set for individual user values.
     'empty_strings_to_null' => env('DB_EMPTY_STRINGS_TO_NULL', true), // set to false to return empty strings instead of null values when fields are empty in FileMaker
+    'request_timeout' => env('DB_REQUEST_TIMEOUT', 30), // set the request timeout in seconds (default 30)
 ]
 ```
 You should add one database connection configuration for each FileMaker database you will be connecting to. Each file can have completely different configurations, and can even be on different servers.
@@ -389,6 +390,12 @@ FM::setGlobalFields() // not chainable
 ->getLayoutMetadata()
 ```
 
+#### Request customization methods
+```php
+->setRetries($retries) // set the number of retries for a request (value of 2 will make 3 requests in total)
+->setTimeout($timeout) // set the timeout for a request in seconds 
+```
+
 #### Examples:
 Perform a find for a person named Jaina
 ```php
diff --git a/src/Services/FileMakerConnection.php b/src/Services/FileMakerConnection.php
index 9e8e6a2..9ab9afd 100644
--- a/src/Services/FileMakerConnection.php
+++ b/src/Services/FileMakerConnection.php
@@ -35,30 +35,33 @@ class FileMakerConnection extends Connection
 
     protected int $attempts = 2;
 
+    protected int $timeout = 30;
+
     protected bool $shouldCacheSessionToken = true;
 
     protected ?string $sessionTokenCacheKey = null;
 
     protected bool $emptyStringToNull = true;
 
+    /**
+     * Crazy high number of records to return.
+     * Used to get an empty set when using a whereIn with no values.
+     */
+    public const CRAZY_RECORDS_AMOUNT = 1000000000000000000;
+
     public function __construct($pdo, $database = '', $tablePrefix = '', array $config = [])
     {
-
         $this->emptyStringToNull = $config['empty_strings_to_null'] ?? true;
         $this->shouldCacheSessionToken = $config['cache_session_token'] ?? true;
 
         // set the session cache key with the name of the connection to support multiple connections
         $this->sessionTokenCacheKey = 'eloquent-filemaker-session-token-' . $config['name'];
 
+        $this->setTimeout($config['request_timeout'] ?? 30);
+
         parent::__construct($pdo, $database, $tablePrefix, $config);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Crazy high number of records to return.
-     * Used to get an empty set when using a whereIn with no values.
-     */
-    public const CRAZY_RECORDS_AMOUNT = 1000000000000000000;
-
     /**
      * @param  string  $layout
      * @return $this
@@ -717,7 +720,9 @@ protected function prepareRequestForSending($request = null)
             }
         }
 
-        $request->retry($this->attempts, 100, fn () => true, false)->withToken($this->sessionToken);
+        $request->timeout($this->timeout)
+            ->retry($this->attempts, 100, fn () => true, false)
+            ->withToken($this->sessionToken);
 
         return $request;
     }
@@ -850,6 +855,13 @@ public function setRetries($retries)
         return $this;
     }
 
+    public function setTimeout($timeout)
+    {
+        $this->timeout = $timeout;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     protected function getDefaultQueryGrammar()
     {
         return new FMGrammar;