diff --git a/crates/shepherd-cow-host/src/ext_cow.rs b/crates/shepherd-cow-host/src/ext_cow.rs
index 55336bf5..bd3495b6 100644
--- a/crates/shepherd-cow-host/src/ext_cow.rs
+++ b/crates/shepherd-cow-host/src/ext_cow.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 use std::time::Instant;
 
 use alloy_chains::Chain;
-use nexum_runtime::bindings::nexum::host::types::Fault;
+use nexum_runtime::bindings::nexum::host::types::{Fault, RateLimit};
 use nexum_runtime::host::component::{BuilderContext, ComponentBuilder, RuntimeTypes};
 use nexum_runtime::host::extension::Extension;
 use nexum_runtime::host::state::{ExtState, HostState};
@@ -109,8 +109,11 @@ where
 ///
 /// Local-shape failures (unknown chain, bad method/path, decode) become
 /// a shared [`Fault`]; a transport-layer HTTP failure becomes an
-/// [`Http`](bindings::shepherd::cow::cow_api::CowApiError::Http) case; an
-/// orderbook rejection envelope is parsed once here into a
+/// [`Http`](bindings::shepherd::cow::cow_api::CowApiError::Http) case,
+/// except 429 and a `reqwest` timeout, which carry a more precise
+/// [`Fault::RateLimited`] / [`Fault::Timeout`] instead - mirroring the
+/// chain-host's `transport_fault` classification; an orderbook
+/// rejection envelope is parsed once here into a
 /// [`Rejected`](bindings::shepherd::cow::cow_api::CowApiError::Rejected)
 /// case so the guest never re-decodes the failure body.
 fn cow_error_to_wit(err: CowApiError) -> WitCowApiError {
@@ -122,10 +125,16 @@ fn cow_error_to_wit(err: CowApiError) -> WitCowApiError {
             WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::InvalidInput(format!("unsupported HTTP method: {m}")))
         }
         CowApiError::BadPath(msg) => WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::InvalidInput(msg)),
+        CowApiError::HttpError { status: 429, .. } => {
+            WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::RateLimited(RateLimit {
+                retry_after_ms: None,
+            }))
+        }
         CowApiError::HttpError { status, body } => WitCowApiError::Http(HttpFailure {
             status,
             body: Some(body),
         }),
+        CowApiError::Network(e) if e.is_timeout() => WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::Timeout),
         CowApiError::Network(e) => WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::Unavailable(e.to_string())),
         CowApiError::Decode(e) => WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::InvalidInput(format!(
             "invalid OrderCreation JSON: {e}"
@@ -294,4 +303,56 @@ mod tests {
             WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::Unsupported(_)),
         ));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn backend_http_429_projects_to_rate_limited_fault() {
+        // 429 is backpressure, not a rejection body the guest needs to
+        // inspect - it must reach the shared rate-limited vocabulary
+        // instead of a raw http-failure, unlike every other status.
+        let err = CowApiError::HttpError {
+            status: 429,
+            body: "slow down".to_owned(),
+        };
+
+        assert!(matches!(
+            cow_error_to_wit(err),
+            WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::RateLimited(RateLimit {
+                retry_after_ms: None
+            })),
+        ));
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn backend_network_timeout_projects_to_timeout_fault() {
+        // A `reqwest` timeout (any phase) must become `Fault::Timeout`,
+        // not the blanket `Fault::Unavailable` every other transport
+        // failure gets. Accept the connection but never write a
+        // response, so the client's deadline fires on a genuine
+        // read-timeout - deterministic, unlike relying on how a given
+        // CI runner's network stack handles an unroutable address
+        // (which can fail instantly with "no route to host" instead
+        // of timing out).
+        let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind("127.0.0.1:0")
+            .await
+            .expect("bind an ephemeral local port");
+        let addr = listener.local_addr().expect("read the bound local addr");
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            let (_socket, _) = listener.accept().await.expect("accept the test connection");
+            std::future::pending::<()>().await;
+        });
+
+        let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+        let send_err = client
+            .get(format!("http://{addr}/"))
+            .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_millis(50))
+            .send()
+            .await
+            .expect_err("request against a stalled server must fail");
+        assert!(send_err.is_timeout(), "expected a timeout error");
+
+        assert!(matches!(
+            cow_error_to_wit(CowApiError::Network(send_err)),
+            WitCowApiError::Fault(Fault::Timeout),
+        ));
+    }
 }