I didn't know what it was ... but my pet's Quick Ref says it's a Mutant Flowper !!
Whoa... did it actually work? Sure looks like it. Your Petpet has been transformed. Imagine that.
Yes, you can just discard them to start over. Remember that the worms work on a timer and will appear within the same time frame each day, so try to recollect the time you originally picked them up to continue finding the other ones.
Just zapped a Chocolate Pteri (name: Rubyshio) today; if interested please let me know. I normally pound my lab pets, but the last few have gone to frozen accounts. I zap pets because I want them to go to a loving home!
Edit: I ended up putting her in the pound since I needed more room for other lab pets. You can adopt her here: https://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Rubyshio