diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index bee05310b..c7c938455 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ require "#{current_directory}/lib/fog"
 begin
   require 'jeweler'
   Jeweler::Tasks.new do |gem|
-    gem.add_dependency('excon', '>=0.0.17')
+    gem.add_dependency('excon', '>=0.0.18')
     gem.add_dependency('mime-types')
     gem.add_dependency('nokogiri')
     gem.add_dependency('ruby-hmac')
diff --git a/lib/fog/rackspace/files.rb b/lib/fog/rackspace/files.rb
index 5d448041e..a7d2ff764 100644
--- a/lib/fog/rackspace/files.rb
+++ b/lib/fog/rackspace/files.rb
@@ -21,13 +21,11 @@ module Fog
         @cdn_path   = cdn_uri.path
         @cdn_port   = cdn_uri.port
         @cdn_scheme = cdn_uri.scheme
-        @cdn_connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@cdn_scheme}://#{@cdn_host}:#{@cdn_port}")
         storage_uri = URI.parse(credentials['X-Storage-Url'])
         @storage_host   = storage_uri.host
         @storage_path   = storage_uri.path
         @storage_port   = storage_uri.port
         @storage_scheme = storage_uri.scheme
-        @storage_connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@storage_scheme}://#{@storage_host}:#{@storage_port}")
       end
 
       def parse_data(data)
@@ -52,10 +50,12 @@ module Fog
       end
 
       def cdn_request(params)
+        @cdn_connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@cdn_scheme}://#{@cdn_host}:#{@cdn_port}")
         response = @cdn_connection.request({
           :body     => params[:body],
           :expects  => params[:expects],
           :headers  => {
+            'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
             'X-Auth-Token' => @auth_token
           }.merge!(params[:headers] || {}),
           :host     => @cdn_host,
@@ -70,10 +70,12 @@ module Fog
       end
 
       def storage_request(params)
+        @storage_connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@storage_scheme}://#{@storage_host}:#{@storage_port}")
         response = @storage_connection.request({
           :body     => params[:body],
           :expects  => params[:expects],
           :headers  => {
+            'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
             'X-Auth-Token' => @auth_token
           }.merge!(params[:headers] || {}),
           :host     => @storage_host,
diff --git a/lib/fog/rackspace/servers.rb b/lib/fog/rackspace/servers.rb
index cbe72b8cf..bde0a3fc8 100644
--- a/lib/fog/rackspace/servers.rb
+++ b/lib/fog/rackspace/servers.rb
@@ -57,14 +57,15 @@ module Fog
         @path   = uri.path
         @port   = uri.port
         @scheme = uri.scheme
-        @connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@scheme}://#{@host}:#{@port}")
       end
 
       def request(params)
+        @connection = Fog::Connection.new("#{@scheme}://#{@host}:#{@port}")
         response = @connection.request({
           :body     => params[:body],
           :expects  => params[:expects],
           :headers  => {
+            'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
             'X-Auth-Token' => @auth_token
           }.merge!(params[:headers] || {}),
           :host     => @host,