diff --git a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
index ddffe9ad8..02d494f9f 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/custom_httpx/http_handler.py
@@ -80,12 +80,18 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
         json: Optional[dict] = None,
         params: Optional[dict] = None,
         headers: Optional[dict] = None,
+        timeout: Optional[Union[float, httpx.Timeout]] = None,
         stream: bool = False,
     ):
         try:
-            req = self.client.build_request(
-                "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers  # type: ignore
-            )
+            if timeout is not None:
+                req = self.client.build_request(
+                    "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers, timeout=timeout  # type: ignore
+                )
+            else:
+                req = self.client.build_request(
+                    "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers  # type: ignore
+                )
             response = await self.client.send(req, stream=stream)
             response.raise_for_status()
             return response
@@ -104,6 +110,14 @@ class AsyncHTTPHandler:
                 )
             finally:
                 await new_client.aclose()
+        except httpx.ConnectTimeout:
+            if data is None:
+                data = {}
+            raise litellm.Timeout(
+                message=f"Connection timed out after {timeout} seconds.",
+                model=data.get("model"),
+                llm_provider="litellm-httpx-handler",
+            )
         except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
             setattr(e, "status_code", e.response.status_code)
             if stream is True:
@@ -192,13 +206,30 @@ class HTTPHandler:
         params: Optional[dict] = None,
         headers: Optional[dict] = None,
         stream: bool = False,
+        timeout: Optional[Union[float, httpx.Timeout]] = None,
     ):
+        try:
 
-        req = self.client.build_request(
-            "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers  # type: ignore
-        )
-        response = self.client.send(req, stream=stream)
-        return response
+            if timeout is not None:
+                req = self.client.build_request(
+                    "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers, timeout=timeout  # type: ignore
+                )
+            else:
+                req = self.client.build_request(
+                    "POST", url, data=data, json=json, params=params, headers=headers  # type: ignore
+                )
+            response = self.client.send(req, stream=stream)
+            return response
+        except httpx.ConnectTimeout:
+            if data is None:
+                data = {}
+            raise litellm.Timeout(
+                message=f"Connection timed out after {timeout} seconds.",
+                model=data.get("model"),
+                llm_provider="litellm-httpx-handler",
+            )
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise e
 
     def __del__(self) -> None:
         try: