Pets do not have to be cute and cuddly to be loveable, says young Isabelle Milsom of Mount St Thomas.She sleeps beside a whopping garden spider by the name of Fang whose legs are longer than a Cuban salsa dancer."He is beautiful ... just look at the pattern on his back," said nine-year-old Isabelle as she peered into Fang's glass tank on her bedside table.The pair have been the best of pals since Isabelle saved Fang's life when he got into a skirmish with Isabelle's mother, Sue. "I was folding the washing when I looked down at my hair and saw a huge spider," Mrs Milsom said."I screamed, and flung it off and it bit me on the hand."At that point Isabelle pleaded for her mother not to kill the spider."I couldn't hurt it, specially not in front of Isabelle because she just loves wildlife to the point where we have been to every zoo in Australia."The handsome huntsman is now housed in a disused fish tank with five-star facilities.Isabelle scours the garden daily for delicacies like crickets and grubs to lower into Fang's quarters."At night I like to go to sleep hearing the leaves crackle as he moves around his little tank," Isabelle said.On cold nights her mother moves him out to the fire where he likes to stretch his eight legs.Isabelle gets a kick out of showing Fang to her mates."I've got a few friends who are real tomboys but they scream when Fang starts jumping around," she said.Australian Reptile Park's Joel Shakespeare said spiders made great pets because they were fascinating and easy to look after.