This lovely bonsai has been indoors and happy with owner 1. Owner 2, receiving it as a gift, left it in the dark and it lost all its leaves. Owner 3, myself, has been given the task to try and make/keep it happy. It is the first time I try to keep a bonsai. I am keeping the soil moist at all times.

Could anyone help me;
1) identify the sort of tree? Is it a hornbeam?
2) might it be dormant or dying?
3) Is it a good time to prune, it seems like it needs it.
4) It has always been indoors so I mean to keep it indoors for winter. Is this correct?

This tree has been neglected for too long and I hope I can get it back on track with your help. Thank you!

A little info would be great.. Which species, how long have you had it, where does it stand during the day, how do you care for it, what have you changed in the setup etcetc

Thank you! It has been in the sunlight with owner 1, indoors (we are in Italy!), owner two didnt even give it daylight, and we are keeping it close to the window indoors as we speak.

I've had it for four weeks, I've only given it water, no nutrition, because I don't know whether it is a good thing to do or not. Its probably a Hornbeam (Carpinus) (dutch; haagbeuk). I compared a lot of pictures and I recognize the stem, it's very similar to a Dutch Beuk. Sorry for the multiple replies!

Hm.. So the first problem is clear. Carpinus should be outside at all times. Soe bring it outside. For carpinus it is normal to drop the leaves once winter shows the first signs. If it has not dried out too much inside, than it should spring to live in spring again.

Ooh..! I will bring it outside. Shall I cut back the branches, or only when spring is upon it?
Thank you!

I m slightly not convinced that it is a hornbeam. I mean first of all, the chances of there being a hornbeam malsai is much smaller than the chance of there being what i think it is. The second reason is that it does not look like a hornbeam. I think it is a chinese privet as it definitel looks like it to me. I may be wrong though as i do not have close ups of the leaves. As i said i may be wrong but it is kind of a "gut feeling" .

Bob, thank you! Here is a closeup of the leaves. Unfortunately they are all dry. I picked the largest variety and hope it confirms one treetype or the other. It is still inside the house. I really hope he will make it through.

Yeah, i honestly think that is a chinese privet. However i personally have no experience with them so iwill give very generic advise: care for it to your best ability.

After you mentioned I did some research to confirm. The leaves match with the images found on Chinese Privet, rather than the Hornbeam. One blog advises to keep the humidity high and keep him indoor until Spring. That's what I will go for now. Thank you for posting! If he pulls through I'll post the pictures!